Dawn Isaac and her colleague developed the Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress program.
Dawn Isaac’s son Sacha was very sick at birth. Six weeks premature, he required two open heart surgeries as well as a major stomach surgery.
Today Sacha is eight-years-old and physically healthy, but the experience has left him – and his family – with signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“Little ones don’t understand that what’s happening to them is saving their lives. What they feel is the painful medical procedures,” Ms. Isaac says.
Ms. Isaac is Director of Development with Aulneau Renewal Centre, a charitable organization offering specialized counselling services for individuals and families, as well as professional training opportunities.
Together with a colleague whose family had also undergone significant medical trauma, Ms. Isaac began researching what is being done elsewhere to combat pediatric medical traumatic stress.
She discovered some breakthrough work at the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Ms. Isaac and her colleagues at Aulneau have developed the Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress program in Winnipeg, which includes toolkits for healthcare professionals and families.
They’re currently reaching out to the healthcare community to determine the best way to work together to integrate this knowledge.
The Winnipeg Foundation provided a grant of $45,000 to support the development of the Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress program, with $10,000 drawn from Community Building Funds.
Hear more about the Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress program on rivercity360.org.
New program aims to help deal with trauma faced by infant patients and their families.
Read more about Ms. Isaac, her family, and her work at Aulneau.
