Life as a gift. Oleksiy Akimov.

Every year on my birthday, I ask all my friends and acquaintances not to give me gifts, but to do a good deed, to save the lives of children.

This year is no exception.  After all, no souvenirs, flowers and surprises can compare with the feeling that thanks to your special day, someone will have a chance to survive.

This year I have a desire to purchase a modern pulse oximeter for the intensive care unit for deeply premature infants at the Ohmatdet hospital.

It is not easy, because its cost is UAH 48,700.00, but these figures are worth it, behind them are dozens of saved children's lives, hopes for a healthy life, happiness of their parents and loved ones.

It is vital to constantly keep an eye on the pulse and the breathing of the premature born child. There are also many pathologies, during which there is a chronic lack of oxygen in the blood – hypoxy. For the monitoring and maintenance of vital functions of the body – breathing and heart beating of small patients, there is a specific medical device – a pulse oximeter.

A pulse oximeter has a sensor that is attached to the child and tracks how many percents of the blood is saturated with oxygen. The doctor or nurse having such data can adjust the percentage of oxygen that is supplied to the child depending on the individual needs of each child.

Another very important thing is that preterm infants often have the delay of breathing (apnea). They can be a physiological or pathological consequence of immaturity. This condition can lead to death, but with the help of the pulse oximeter's signal of delay of breath, this can be recognized immediately to take the necessary measures so that the child began to breathe again. In addition, the pulse oximeter shows the heart rate of the child which is extremely important in caring for premature children.

Also, immature children often have arrhythmias (disruptions of the heart), which are very difficult to diagnose without monitoring. Thus, it is impossible to nurse the premature baby without monitoring is extremely important indicators such as blood oxygen saturation and heart rate.

With these devices, such as pulse oximeters, we can effectively nurse premature infants. Their disabilities will decrease significantly and the quality of life will improve.