Stars in Our Eyes continued
NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Scott & White ranks among the
nation’s top 3 percent for survival rates. As the only Level III facility between
Dallas and Austin, the NICU cares for extremely premature newborns or
critically ill infants who require surgery or other pediatric expertise. Specially
trained pediatric teams provide ground and air transport for fragile newborns
and expectant mothers. Highly specialized technology and neonatal expertise
have helped thousands of families take their infants home to thrive.
Hunter Reed age 2
Two years ago, when she was almost 38 weeks pregnant, Sabrina
Reed became alarmed by her baby’s sudden inactivity in her
womb. The wife of Army Staff Sergeant Travis Reed, now
stationed in Kuwait, Mrs. Reed contacted doctors at Fort Hood’s
Darnell Army Medical Center. Within a few hours after arriving
at the hospital, she had a placental abruption, a very serious
condition in which the baby may be denied oxygen and the
mother may bleed heavily. Mrs. Reed’s doctor performed an
emergency Caesarean section.
“When I saw Hunter, he was completely limp,” she recalls. The
Reeds were frightened, but became hopeful when they learned
their tiny son would be transferred to Scott & White. There,
neonatal experts, under the supervision of Cheryl Cipriani, MD,
director of the Division of Neonatology, would administer the
Cool Cap System™. It is the only FDA-approved device that
could prevent damage to Hunter’s brain. This was a concern
because he had been without oxygen for 19 minutes during birth.
It was the only hope of reducing Hunter’s risks for cerebral palsy
and other debilitating conditions, too. Scott & White is the first
hospital in Texas to use this technology.
As the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Dr. Cipriani and her
team were waiting. They immediately placed the Cool Cap™ on
Hunter, and maintained a safe body temperature for him for 72
hours, a critical step in the process. They continuously monitored
his brain activity as well.
The next two months were touch and go for young Hunter.
Finally, with the help of the nurses and physicians at Scott &
White’s NICU, the exhausted parents were able to bond with their
newborn son.
“Everyone in the NICU was so compassionate. They made it
possible for us to care for our son and be involved with his recovery,”
Mrs. Reed says. Remarkably, Hunter hadn’t experienced any
developmental delays. Today, he’s an active and determined twoyear-old. “Hunter has gone from the worst-case scenario to living a
normal life without any delays,” says Mrs. Reed. “We attribute this
miracle to Scott & White, and thank God every day.” ■
“Hunter has gone from the worst-case scenario to
living a normal life without any delays. We attribute
this miracle to Scott & White.”
—Sabrina Reed
20
THE CATALYST Fall 11 | sw.org