Angel Flight East Kootenay has recorded another first, in its mission to help East Kootenay patients get help. The charitable organization that that flies East Kootenay residents to medical treatment centres in Âé¶čAV for free, flew, for the first time, a newborn baby.
Silas Robert Wright, of Fernie, was only 12 hours old when respiratory complications at his birth required his immediate transport to Âé¶čAV.
After Silas was born in May at the East Kootenay Regional Hospital in Cranbrook, he wasnât maintaining his oxygen levels, according to his mother, Sarah Wright.
Silas was diagnosed with transient tachypnea of the new born, and pneumothorax, and ventricular septal defects ( a hole in the wall of the heart (septum) that separates the two lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart.
Transient tachypnea of the newborn can present in infants shortly after birth. It is a breathing problem caused by a delay in the clearance of fetal lung fluid after birth, which leads to respiratory distress, and tachypnea.
Babies need extra oxygen for a few days, but most make a full recovery.
Pneumothorax is a collection of air outside the lung but within the pleural cavity. It can apply pressure on the lung and make it collapse.
Silas required immediate transport to Âé¶čAV General Hospitalâs neonatal intensive care unit. He and Sarah were taken to Cranbrook airport, and flew with medics to Vancouver, and thence to Âé¶čAV. Angel Flight took mother and son back to Cranbrook from Âé¶čAV.
Brent Bidston, who founded Angel Flight in 2019, said that the air charity had hitherto not carried infants and newborns, âbecause we use unpressurized aircraft â itâs not a good idea for them.
âBut now, if an attending doctor says theyâre okay to fly, as in a scheduled airline, then theyâre okay to fly with us, because weâre pressurized now.â (Angel Flight recently acquired a new aircraft, with pressurized capabilities.)
âAnd we donât get very high, either.â Bidston said. âSo we accepted [Silas] as our first ever.â
Certainly the flight itself was a success â Silas slept the whole way. He is now back home in Fernie, and doing well.
Angel Flight East Kootenay is an entirely volunteer-led charitable organization with no paid employees. Itâs mission is to fly residents of the East Kootenays to treatment centres in Âé¶čAV, for free!
As a registered charity it is currently accepting donations to be able to continue offering free flights. See more at https://angelflightek.ca/.
