It is a kind of moving intensive care for babies. The Máxima Medical Center in Veldhoven is the first hospital in the Netherlands to have a self -designed Babylance, an ambulance specially built to transport newborn children, who have been born far too early or are seriously ill. It is a collaboration between the GGD and the hospital.
From the outside it looks like an ordinary ambulance that looks a bit more robust. “He is much better on the road,” says ambulance driver Johnny Stekhuizen who was closely involved in the development of the special ambulance. “There are double rear wheels under the car, so that irregularities in the road surface are better collected. And so the car is much more stable for the small patients.”
Because they are small, the babies who are transported in the Babylance. “Sometimes children are born extremely early, we only weigh 500 grams and fit in the palm of your hand,” says Kim Hermans. She is a neonatologist at the MMC, which is a pediatrician who specializes in newborn babies. Kim guides special health transport together with a nurse. “It’s not only about children born prematurely, but also babies who have had a difficult start due to lack of oxygen.”
“Sometimes a baby weighs only 500 grams and fits in the palm of your hand.”
The vehicle not only has a stable road, the indoor climate in the car is also stable and the light is quiet. “The babies can be transported gradually and with fewer incentives and the necessary equipment is within reach.” Around the transportation corruse in the Babylance are compressed air, ventilation devices, pumps and an infusion to administer medication and a monitor for oxygen and heart rate.
“Because the car is wider, we can easily reach everything and there is also room for an extra seat, on which if possible one of the parents rides with transport. That is a long -held wish,” says Dr. Hermans. “You want to keep such a family together as much as possible.”
It is not surprising that the Maxima MC has its own Babylance. The Veldhoven hospital is the only thing in Brabant with an intensive care department for newborns. “The very sickest or much too early children born from other hospitals in East Brabant are transferred to the Máxima and it is precisely for this transport that the Babylance is meant. If the weather goes a bit better, they will also be brought back to the hospital where they came from the Babylance.”
In the past, a transport carriage was put in a normal ambulance, later such an ambulance was converted for baby transport. The new Babylance is always ready with the Máxima. He is now in use for a few months and meets a need. “Average we drive out three times a week.”