Michael Magro Foundation & NYU Winthrop Hospital Join Forces to Keep Preemies Safer
Michael Magro Foundation and NYU Winthrop Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) have teamed up to help parents of the tiniest patients keep their children safer upon release from the hospital. ‘Infant CPR Anytime’, developed by the American Heart Association, and underwritten for NYU Winthrop Hospital’s NICU by Michael Magro Foundation, provides in hospital instruction and take-home kits for each child in the NICU.
NYU Winthrop Hospital’ Level III NICU, with a capacity of twenty-seven, cares for an average of 500 newborns annually. Nurses in this unit provide loving care to the babies, who either have been born early, with medical issues, or both. As an added measure of safety, parents receive a class in Infant CPR delivered right at the bedside. They also receive an Infant CPR Anytime kit, complete with an infant-sized doll, a bi-lingual instructional DVD, and a quick facts refresher brochure. According to LaShon Pitter, Nurse Manager of the NICU, “We offered this in a class setting earlier, but, due to the desire of parents to remain near their infant, we began offering the training one-on-one right at the bedside.” She went on to say, “Once the impact of COVID-19 set in, we decided to keep the one-to-one trainings and forgo the classes to ensure safety for all.”
“While parents are the ones typically being trained,” stated Laura Bloom, RN, a nurse on the unit who has been instrumental in providing caregiver trainings, “we often have other family members, such as older siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, who are trained with the skill as well.”
Those taking the class have responded very positively to it. Parents have reported that, while having a preemie baby coming home can be quite frightening, going home armed with CPR information makes the experience much easier. The enhanced feeling of safety is a sentiment that has been reported by nearly every participant. Further, the vast majority of parents had no prior CPR training, making the educational experience even more vital.
Terrie Magro, Co-Founder and Vice President of Michael Magro Foundation, expressed tremendous pride in helping these families go home more safely. “Michael Magro Foundation is rooted in caring for sick children and their families. These babies should have a lifetime of happiness and experiences ahead of them. Providing their parents with Infant CPR Anytime kits is a gift we, at the Foundation, are happy to give. We are thrilled to know that these new parents can go home armed with much-needed information and a sense of well-being from knowing they can take care of their newborns.”
Michael Magro Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization founded by Paul and Terrie Magro to honor the life of their son Michael, who passed away from leukemia at the age of 13. The Foundation works with the Cancer Center for Kids at Winthrop-University Hospital, Stony Brook Children’s Cancer Division, and other Winthrop and Stony Brook pediatric specialties where treatment of chronic diseases is ongoing, as well as with the Golisano Children’s Hospital in Southwest Florida. The core programs offered are: Life Essentials [helping families struggling financially during their child’s treatment with non-medical expenses]; Project SOAR [providing support for childhood cancer patients, families, students and teachers when the patient returns to school following long illnesses]; and Bonding With Baby [helping siblings of babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) communicate and bond]. In partnership with The Spencer Foundation, the organization created Operation Playcation, an initiative to provide inpatient pediatric hospital patients with Playstation 4 units and an array of gaming choices.