The Save a Child`s Heart Project - Twenty-Years Activity Report and the Contribution of the Anesthesiologists from Wolfson Medical Center

Purpose: We report the 20-year contribution of "Save a child`s heart" - SACH, humanitarian organization and Wolfson Medical Center`s (WMC) teams to the global effort of saving lives of children from developing countries suffering from cardiac diseases (CD). Also see Ezri et al. Lancet. 2014;384(9954):1575-6

Methods: We report the SACH`s twenty-years activity: 1996-2015.

Results: Since SACH`s foundation by late Ami Cohen (picture 1 – the founding team), more than 10,000 children with CD from 50 countries were consulted. More than 4,000 had undergone interventions (surgeries, interventional cardiac catheterizations), mostly at WMC. The overall mortality rate was 3%. More than 100 team members (including anesthesiologists) took fellowships at WMC and hundreds in their own countries. Seventeen overseas treatment missions were accomplished.

Results are presented in tables 1- 4.

The role of our anesthesiologists (picture 2) is crucial for the project`s success. International anesthesia fellows at WMC came from: Palestine Authority, Romania, Moldova, Georgia, China, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan (picture 3).

Partnerships were created between SACH and five overseas new cardiac centers.

Ongoing future SACH projects include building of a new, international pediatric hospital at WMC.

The SACH`s logo (Picture 4,5)

“I had a dream, there were many colors over my bed, then a very big hand came in the middle of the night. We flew to a far-off country and they gave me a new heart, and I could run and dance.” – Katya – Rep. of Moldova

Conclusion: this philanthropic project continues to grow and save more lives.

Table 1

Table 2 – Surgeries performed by SACH`s team, by *RACHS risk categories

Table 3:

Table 4:

Picture 1:

Picture 2:

Picture 3:

Picture 4:

Picture 5: