‘It’s very warm, it’s calming; it has the expression of I see you, I hear you, we’re taking care of you,’ said volunteer Colleen Davies
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Ronald McDonald House Charities and AHS unveiled another ‘comfort cart’ on Tuesday, aimed at easing burdens on families during their time at Peter Lougheed Centre.
The cart is equipped with coffee, tea, snacks, books, toys, hygiene products and more, which help to make potentially stressful neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or pediatric visits more comfortable for families.
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Made possible by volunteers like Colleen Davies from RMHC, the cart is the third of its kind in Alberta. The other two carts are Red Deer Regional Hospital and Foothills Medical Centre, all of which provide items for free while on the go between patient units.
Mandy Scott’s daughter was born prematurely in September 2023, in an emergency C-section at Foothills Medical Centre. She was served by Davies and the comfort cart during her time in the NICU.
Scott said that being in the NICU, you often have none of the comforts of home.
“We were brought here either by ambulance, or by helicopter. It’s so fast that you’re in the Foothills hospital and you have a baby all the sudden, you’re not ready,” she said.
After a long draining day of sitting next to your little one, Scott said that having someone hand you a free cup of coffee is almost shocking.
“You’re just not used to it,” she said. “And just to have a snack at the end of the day, it’s worth more than I would have known.”
‘It takes a village to get this work done’
The carts provide a “calming spot” for parents, caregivers, and families, said Davies, where they can refresh and take care of themselves.
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Davies said that when families are first invited to the comfort cart, they’re usually quite overwhelmed.
“They’ve just been visiting their little one in the NICU, and their day has been very, very tiring, and very trying.
“The comfort cart is something that’s different than anything else on the board, it’s not medical at all. So it’s very warm, it’s calming; it has the expression of I see you, I hear you, we’re taking care of you,” said Davies.
Peter Lougheed Centre senior operating officer Nick Thain said bringing volunteers into the care equation is invigorating.
“It takes a village to get this work done,” he said. “This a team sport that we do, and having volunteers like Colleen (Davies) actually enhance the care that patients are receiving.”
Comfort cart allows families ‘to take some time for themselves’
Connecting with health-care partners like AHS to support families is what RMHC is about, according to Natasha Tiemstra, COO of RMHC for Alberta.
The comfort cart will be available twice per week in the NICU and pediatric units at Peter Lougheed Centre, and Tiemstra said the plan is for the cart to be a permanent fixture.
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Tiemstra said that since visits to the NICU are often unexpected, families arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
“They’re sitting in a room at their child’s side and that’s all they’re focused on, and really at the end of the day they need to take some time for themselves,” Tiemstra said.
Thain said the NICU is a high-stress environment, with technical teams that rally around families during a difficult time.
The care performed in the NICU allows premature babies to transfer to pediatric care, Thain said, and then eventually be discharged from hospital to have successful lives.
“It’s really meaningful work, incredible work, that happens inside this site.”
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