Forrest General Hospital’s NICU Receives Infant CPR Kits Through Generous Community Donation

From left, Jennifer Hodge, The First Bank, A National Banking Association; Kevin Gregory, FGH Patient Care manager for Forrest General Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Eve Elias Bauer, regional director, American Heart Association; Kent Oliver, Raanes & Oliver Capital Advisors; Tangela Jackson, director of Forrest General Hospital’s Women and Children’s Services; Jennifer Hopping, executive director, American Heart Association; Caroline Nurkin, Pinebelt Foundation.

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (May 16, 2024) During May’s National Heart Month observance, five generous sponsors are providing 30 lifesaving infant CPR kits to Forrest General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). These kits will be given to the parents of NICU babies to take home and learn lifesaving CPR skills.

Sponsors include Corner Market, Raanes & Oliver Capital Advisors, Johnny B. McDaniel Fund at the Pinebelt Foundation, The First, A National Banking Association, Pine Belt Chevy and Courtesy Ford. The purchase of the CPR kits is part of the 2024 Heart Gala which raises funds for the American Heart Association. Jenny Boudreaux and Kimberly Roberts Moore served as chairmen for this year’s event.

According to Caroline Nurkin, director of Operations for the Pinebelt Foundation, the Johnny B. McDaniel fund supports the American Heart Association in areas focusing on services and research for women, children, and minorities. “The donor felt this was an important way to honor her late husband’s memory as his passion and heart led to many charitable gifts,” said Nurkin. “It is her hope that this donation of infant CPR kits will provide peace to the families of these NICU babies, and they will pass them on to help others.”

Kent Oliver, Raanes & Oliver Capital Advisors, said they “have been inspired by so many people, children in particular, who have been impacted by heart conditions and it really limits their long-term potential. So, the importance of being able to not only impact children, but impact them long term and help them with their heart, is incredibly important to us and making sure we continue to support people in the community.”

According to Jennifer Hodge, vice president for The First, “Having the funds to donate to the American Heart Association each year is heart filling, literally. Being that we are a local bank, the opportunity to be part of such a large impact of helping save lives, whether through new research or infant CPR kits to our local hospitals, is absolutely amazing.”

Infant CPR Anytime kits contain everything needed to learn the lifesaving skills of infant CPR and infant choking relief in about 20 minutes in the comfort of one’s own home. The kits can also be used in hospital labor and delivery programs, including neonatal intensive care units, to teach skills to new parents, allowing nursing staff to focus on patient care.

Infant CPR Anytime is for new parents, grandparents, babysitters, nannies, and anyone who wants to learn lifesaving infant CPR and choking relief skills but does not need a course completion card to meet a job requirement.

Bringing a baby home from the hospital can be overwhelming, but it can be especially so for parents of critically ill infants. Infants requiring intensive care often have conditions that increase the risk of cardiorespiratory arrest after discharge. According to the National Institute of Health, preterm infants have more than twice as many cardiovascular malformations than infants born at term. A premature infant may also have difficulty breathing due to an underdeveloped respiratory system that prevents the lungs from fully expanding and contracting.

Tangela Jackson, RN, director of Forrest General Hospital Women and Children’s Services, believes the Infant CPR kits are a wonderful tool for Pine Belt families to be able to learn CPR. “We are so appreciative to these community donors who have provided these kits for us to provide to parents of our NICU patients,” Jackson said. “These kits can make a huge difference in helping save lives of infants in the Greater Pine Belt area.”

The need for parents of high-risk babies to be trained in the lifesaving skill of CPR is more pressing than ever. Under half (49 percent) of infants and children that had an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest received CPR. The likelihood of cardiac arrest is much higher in infants who needed intensive care at birth.

“The gift of these Pine Belt businesses will help spread awareness of heart disease throughout the community, empower new parents with the knowledge to respond in a cardiac emergency, and improve the chain of survival in the surrounding area,” said Millie Swan, Forrest Health vice president.

The CPR Anytime program, which was developed by the AHA in coordination with the American Academy of Pediatrics, is a video-based, self-directed learning tool that can teach parents, family members and other caregivers the core skills of infant CPR and choking relief.

Each take-home kit includes:

• An easy-to-follow CPR skills practice video on DVD or online streaming option (English and Spanish) instructions
• A personal CPR manikin to practice correct technique
• Skills reference card to refresh and review skills at any time.

• A bilingual (English and Spanish) DVD and user guide come with every kit.

Donor support has allowed this program to be launched across the country where many hospitals have seen tremendous success and infant lives saved.

For more information on Forrest General Hospital’s NICU, visit forresthealth.org/NICU.