Dear Eilon,
Thank you for your message where you said: "It is definitely a sad situation that shouldn't have happened. A child shouldn't die for lack of a place in PICU if one is available. I may be naive, but running a PICU comes with great responsibility and nowadays, creating a whatsApp (or whatever other application) network with responsible physicians in charge of PICUs is an easy task. Such a network accessible to stakeholders may be able help locating the closest PICU with available place and will help in spreading the load between PICUs working in the same area."
This comment is very timely because our sister forum HIFA is currently leading a project with Makerere University and Norwegian research institutes to explore how health workers use messaging apps like WhatsApp to improve the quality of health care (including coordination of services). You can read more about it here: https://www.hifa.org/projects/new-mhealth-innovate-what-can-we-learn-hea...
It is tragic that poor communications can contribute to the avoidable death of a child. Please do you or other CHIFA members have any experience with using WhatsApp or othe tools to coordinate care between different health facilities? If so, please share your experience with CHIFA and I'll ensure it is included in the wider HIFA project.
Best wishes, Neil
Let's build a future where children are no longer dying for lack of healthcare information - Join CHIFA (Child Healthcare Information For All): http://www.hifa.org/forums/chifa-child-health-and-rights
CHIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA campaign (Healthcare Information For All) and assistant moderator of the CHIFA forum. Twitter: @hifa_org FB: facebook.com/HIFAdotORG neil@hifa.org
