Group helps pay for equipment
A group which helps sufferers of lung complaints has raised hundreds of pounds to help buy vital pieces of medical equipment for new born babies.
Breathe Easy Darlington presented a cheque for £900 to Dr John Furness, from Darlington Memorial Hospital, to buy pulse oximeters.
The machines measure the amount of oxygen in the blood of new-born babies. They can help diagnose deadly illnesses.
The equipment is not funded by the NHS, meaning hospitals must raise funds themselves.
Darlington Memorial Hospital has already bought one of the machines after Breathe Easy Darlington raised £300 and Dr Furness matched the amount of money from his own pocket.
It is hoped that the latest bout of fundraising will mean another one can now be bought.
The money was raised by raffles and donations as well as a cake stall and a 10km sponsored run.
John Furness from the Department of Paediatrics at Darlington Memorial:-
"I am delighted and humbled that Breathe Easy Darlington are helping us to buy pulse oximeters for the new babies of Darlington and County Durham. Previously we have resuscitated newborn babies in oxygen. There has been increasing concern that this may damage babies’ lungs and eyes. Normal levels of oxygen in a full term baby’s blood stream are now known. These can be measured with the pulse oximeters to limit the amount of oxygen used to resuscitate and stabilise a newborn baby. It is humbling because people who suffer from chronic lung disease are now raising money to help us try to prevent lung and eye disease in the next generation."
