New GE Giraffe Shuttle Eases Babies' Journeys Within Hospital September 10, 2010 WAUKESHA, WI GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) has

s received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market the Giraffe Shuttle transportable power source with its Giraffe and Panda families of incubators and warmers for newborn babies, enabling them to be used for intrahospital transport. The Giraffe Shuttle, combined with the bed, helps weak babies focus their energy on healing and growing instead of on managing the stress of exposure to cold temperatures and excessive handling. "Globally, 60 percent of babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) have low body temperature," said Carrie Eglinton Manner, general manager of Maternal Infant Care for GE Healthcare. "Studies show that every one-degree Celsius drop in baby's body temperature increases the likelihood of death by 10 percent. It's clearly crucial to do everything possible to prevent heat loss." The combined unit helps reduce the potential for clinical problems that can result from interrupted patient thermoregulation, patient nuisance touch, handling and movement - all of which may challenge physiological stability when moving babies to and from a transport incubator. "In their first minutes of life, sick babies are transferred from Labor & Delivery warmers to transport incubators for the trip to the NICU. Then they're moved into the warmers or incubators that will serve as their homes in the hospital," said Karen Starr, MIC clinical marketing manager and neonatal nurse practitioner, GE Healthcare. "That means disrupting their environment a minimum of two times. For some, this may be just the beginning, as they may be transported to surgery or radiology for various procedures, undergoing additional transfers there and then enduring the reverse process to make the trip back to the NICU." With the Giraffe Shuttle, Labor & Delivery staff can place fragile newborn babies directly into the optimized environment of Giraffe or Panda beds for transport to and from the NICU, as well as to other departments like radiology and operating rooms. This helps provide proper thermal regulation every step of the way, right up until they are released from the hospital to go home with their families. Recharging in just two hours, the Giraffe Shuttle provides up to 45 minutes of electrical power. It also can accommodate accessories and auxiliary equipment such as life support monitors, ventilators and infusion pumps that may be needed during intra-hospital transport.

Reflection: An incubator that could help premature babies avoid further complications and a tool to closely monitor the newborns overall health. This is one of the greatest advancements that we have in the Obstetrics and Gynecology field. There are a lot of advantages in using this technology because it is an incubator and infant radiant warmer in one device with relative humidity option, swivel mattress, all around access, and uniform central thermal environment. This could be a big help here in the Philippines but the only problem is that it is very expensive and only few people could afford to use such device for their premature newborn. Based on my research, one unit costs 29,000 (Php 2,131,652.54), clearly only tertiary private hospitals could have such huge investment for the development of their healthcare delivery system.

BARRIOS, ALYSSA MARIE F. BSN-411