Born last Christmas Eve with a congenital heart defect called transposition of the arteries, the newborn required immediate heart surgery to survive but there are no pediatric cardiac surgeons in Trinidad who per- form the operation he needed. Two days post-op Dr. DeCampli arranged for the child to be transferred to Children's Hospital of New Jersey where he could be closely monitored in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit. This support takes a tremendous burden off the family and gives each child a real chance at survival. Dr. Becker described Nicaragua as a country with limited resources but significant potential for improvement. The first child repaired by this group three years ago was also the first open heart surgery ever performed in Nicaragua.
Education is also a priority for the team.
Their work at the Hospital Infantil Manuel de Jesus Rivera during the past three years has included mentoring of the Nicaraguan surgeons, cardiologists, nurses and other clinical staff. On average, the team performs 17 operations during each annual two-week trip. Much like our PICU here, we encouraged the parents to 'live' with their children while they were hospitalized. The only difference there is that the parents have to sleep outside on benches. There is no place for them to go.