Page 30 - Waterfall City Issue 8 August 2025

Waterfall City Health

Netcare’s PICU unit
SAVING LIVES

W hen a two-month-old The next day, Nkateko’s vital statistics

suddenly dropped further, requiring
baby’s chest infection
suddenly turned serious,
the baby boy to be placed on a
his mother remembers
the horror of realising her son was ventilator, then on an oscillator to
support his breathing.
not breathing properly and was
slipping in and out of consciousness. “He started to swell up in response
to the infection, and it was extremely
“I knew we had to try to keep him frightening for us as parents to see all
awake. He needed urgent medical these tubes sticking out of our baby.
care, and so I drove with Nkateko on Our families here in Gauteng and
my lap to the emergency department other relatives travelled from different
at Netcare Waterfall City Hospital. provinces to support us. We knew it
I don’t remember parking the car was a very serious situation, and we
– I just rushed him inside and they prayed constantly,” Nthabiseng says.
immediately put him on oxygen,”
recalls Nthabiseng Mlangeni. Dr Monyake says Nkateko was one of
several children admitted to the PICU
At first, Nkateko, whose name means requiring critical care for respiratory
‘Blessing’, was admitted to the syncytial virus (RSV) so far this year.
paediatric unit, and his mother was
able to remain with her son, rooming “Babies’ immune systems have not had
in with him. After several days in the the time to build up resistance to the
hospital, Nkateko was again struggling many common germs such as RSV that
Dr Monyake - back right - and the PICU team. to breathe, despite medication and generally would not cause serious illness
physiotherapy to help clear mucus among older children or adults,” she says.
from his lungs. Doctors transferred
Nkateko to the paediatric intensive care “It is rare to put a child on ECMO,
unit (PICU) under the care of paediatric however, this RSV season has been
intensivist Dr Palesa Monyake. particularly brutal, and we are grateful
this lifesaving option is available for our
“In the PICU, they started him on high patients who are in the critical situation
flow oxygen and Dr Monyake explained that Nkateko faced,” she says.
the unfamiliar environment to us,
the treatment Nkateko was receiving Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Sharmel
and how they were monitoring his Bhika explains that extracorporeal
condition every minute. It was the membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
hardest thing to have to leave my two- is a form of life support in which
month-old baby and go home because specialised equipment artificially
it’s not possible for parents to room performs the functions of the heart
in with their children in the high care and lungs, giving them a chance to
environment,” Nthabiseng recalls. heal. Yet, ECMO is only considered in
life-threatening circumstances for such
“I did not sleep at all that night, young children.
between worrying about Nkateko and
anxiously expecting a call from the “ECMO provides a valuable lifeline
hospital at any moment. It was one when other forms of ventilation are no
of many sleepless nights for us in the longer proving effective, and without
weeks ahead, but we came to trust the this intervention, Nkateko may not be
PICU team implicitly.” with us today.
The PICU night team.

28 Waterfall City Issue 8 2025