Reducing Infant Mortality caused by Respiratory Distress

Neonatal Rescue is a non-profit organization that develops and distributes affordable, easy-to-use, and easy-to-maintain respiratory therapy solutions to low-resource environments. We are working to solve the problem of infant mortality caused by respiratory issues in low-resource environments.

The problem is significant. Every year, over 2 million newborns die within the first month of life in developing countries. Almost half of these deaths are preventable with respiratory therapy, including ventilators and appropriate training. However, access to these life-saving solutions is limited in low-resource environments. Traditional ventilators can range from $25,000-100,000, making them out of reach for many families. Even when ventilators are donated, they often sit unused due to a lack of training and maintenance.

Our solutions are designed specifically for low-resource environments, and they are priced to be affordable for even the poorest families. We also provide training and support to ensure that our solutions are used effectively.

We believe that everyone deserves access to life-saving healthcare, regardless of their income or location. We are committed to making a difference in the lives of newborns and their families, and we believe that our solutions can help to save lives.

• According to the World Health Organization, every year, over 2 million newborns die within the first month of life in developing countries.
• The World Health Organization also estimates that globally, 24% of newborn deaths are caused by asphyxia related to Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome or NRDS.

• Almost half of these deaths are preventable with respiratory therapy

• The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 95% of deaths from NRDS could be prevented with access to affordable and reliable neonatal ventilators.

• Traditional ventilators can range from $25,000-100,000, making them out of reach for many families.

• Even when ventilators are donated, they often sit unused due to a lack of training and maintenance.

We believe that our solutions can help to make a significant impact on this problem. By providing affordable, easy-to-use, and easy-to-maintain respiratory therapy solutions, we can help to save lives and improve the health of newborns in low-resource environments.

What is your solution?

Neonatal Rescue's solution to the problem of newborn mortality in low-resource environments is a three-pillar model:

1. Fit-for-purpose devices: Neonatal Rescue engineers build life-saving ventilator devices that are easy to use, affordable, and accessible. Our devices are designed to be as simple as possible, ensuring ease when local healthcare providers use them. The devices we design are also a solution due to their accessibility and affordability. Because Neonatal Rescue's "Neolife Ventilator" costs only a fraction of what typical ventilators cost, we are able to make this life-saving medical equipment accessible in places that otherwise could not afford the expensive, high-tech devices.

2. Thorough training: Neonatal Rescue provides comprehensive training on how to use our devices and how to provide respiratory resuscitation. Our training is tailored to the specific needs of the healthcare providers and the environment in which they are working.

3. Maintenance: Neonatal Rescue designs our devices to be modular, meaning that each component can be accessed and replaced independently of the other components. This makes repairs easy because it is unnecessary to disassemble the entire device to replace one part. This also prevents other parts and components from being damaged during the repair. In order to do these repairs quickly and efficiently, we train local technicians on how to troubleshoot the devices and make the repairs. This allows all repairs to happen on-site rather than shipping them back to the United States for repairs.

We believe that by addressing these factors, we can save the lives of thousands of newborns each year.

Here are some additional details about our solution:

• Our ventilators are designed to be affordable and easy to use. They are also reliable and can be used in a variety of settings.

• We provide training for healthcare providers on how to use our ventilators. This training is tailored to the specific needs of the healthcare providers and the environment in which they are working.

• We work to improve the infrastructure in low-resource environments to support the use of our ventilators. This includes providing access to electricity and reliable water supplies.

Link to youtube.com video explaining the Neolife ventilator: 

Our innovation saves the lives of babies affected by birth asphyxia in low-resource environments. The infants will benefit from our intervention through improved and prolonged lives, and the mothers and communities will also be spared the emotional impact of losing a child. The doctors at the larger hospitals will also benefit because not as many patients will have to be referred to them from the community clinics, allowing their hospitals to be less overwhelmed. Naturally, reducing child mortality is impactful on the community as a whole, and our program is intended to minimize the devastating effects of loss to birth asphyxia.

In 2019, when we visited Chey Chumneas Referral Hospital, Dr. Kong reported they had treated 26 babies who experienced respiratory distress in a one-year period. They used our treatment protocol and the Pumani CPAP. They successfully resuscitated 24 of the 26. The other two were transported to a larger hospital with positive pressure. They both survived.

Additionally, the information from Preak Loung Health Center had implemented the protocol 23 times. 

Our current programs focus on Zambia and Cambodia, where we have built relationships with local healthcare providers to establish our program and ensure success over time.

We have seen 1st hand how trained medical professionals and medical devices can save babies' lives. Since 2017, we have curated a highly effective and well-respected team of professionals from the business world, medical field, researchers, engineers, and program developers to implement our neocare program with the intent to fulfill our mission to reduce infant mortality. Our goal is to bring the same level of medical care around the world and make an impact on the lives of newborns, their families, and communities.

Jennifer Lyn Shaw, RRT

Jennifer has been working as a respiratory therapist at Intermountain Health since 1994.  She started working in the Newborn Intensive Care in 1996 and found that caring for babies was her true passion.  She has served in many roles and is currently the Respiratory NICU Clinical Specialist at McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden Utah.  She also sits on many of Intermountain Health’s multi-disciplinary NICU committees helping to define goals, protocols, processes, as well as looking at outcomes for the corporation.  She is involved in Continuous Improvement and Quality Assurance efforts for the NICU’s system wide.  She has been an Instructor with the Neonatal Resuscitation Program for over 20 years and loves to teach others.  She has also been a mentor/educator to hundreds of new respiratory therapists and nurses during her career. 

She received her BSRT degree from Weber State and is almost done with her MSRT degree.   

Cody Going:

Leads the regulatory and quality aspects of Neonatal Rescue, ensuring that devices fulfill all federal and International standards and requirements. His previous experience with CAD computer-aided design, strategic problem solving, and innovative product design has enabled him to understand and tackle all of the challenges that come with the design for devices.

Neonatal Rescue currently serves thousands of newborns in low-resource environments. We have provided neonatal ventilators and training to healthcare providers in Zambia and Cambodia. We are committed to continuing our work to save the lives of newborns in low-resource environments. We believe that every newborn deserves a chance to live, and we are working to make that happen.

We are also working to expand our reach to other countries in Africa and Asia. We believe that our solution has the potential to save the lives of thousands of newborns each year. We are committed to working with local healthcare providers to ensure that our solution is used effectively and that the lives of newborns are saved.

We face many financial, technical, legal, cultural, and market barriers in our work. These include:

Financial barriers: The cost of developing and manufacturing our medical devices is high, and we rely on donations and grants to fund our work. We are currently seeking funding to help us scale our production and distribution.

Technical barriers: We need to develop new technologies that are affordable, easy to use, and effective in low-resource settings. We are also working on developing new technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our medical devices. We hope that Solve can connect us with partners who can help us with this research and development.

Legal barriers: We need to navigate complex regulatory systems to bring our devices to market. Some countries have legal restrictions on the importation and use of medical devices. We hope that Solve can help us navigate these regulations and ensure our devices are available to those who need them most.

Cultural barriers: We need to overcome cultural beliefs and practices that can prevent parents from seeking medical care for their infants. 

Market barriers: We need to create a market for our devices in low-resource settings, where there is often a lack of access to healthcare and financial resources. There is often a need for more access to healthcare providers who are trained in the use of medical devices. We hope that Solve can help us enrich our training programs to train healthcare providers more effectively.

We believe that Solve can help us overcome these barriers by connecting us with partners who can provide us with the financial, technical, legal, and cultural support we need to succeed. We are particularly interested in partnering with companies that have expertise in the following areas:

Medical device development: We need partners who can help us develop new technologies that are affordable, easy to use, and effective in low-resource settings.

Regulatory compliance: We need partners who can help us navigate complex regulatory systems to bring our devices to market.

Market development: We need partners who can help us create a market for our devices in low-resource settings, where there is often a lack of access to healthcare and financial resources.

We are innovative in three ways:

Primarily, the Neolife is innovative in that it is easy to use. Often when medical equipment is donated to low-resource environments, the devices are very high-tech and more complicated than the doctors know how to use. Neonatal Rescue, however, is innovative in that our devices are specifically designed to be as simple as possible, ensuring ease when local healthcare providers use them. Additionally, our breathing devices also use a battery that can be charged via an outlet or by a solar panel. This ensures that if the power goes out, the patient can continue to receive the life-saving treatment that they need, eliminating obstacles related to the lack of available electricity. 

The devices are innovative in their accessibility and affordability as well. Ventilators can typically cost anywhere from $25,000 to 100,000 dollars. Neonatal Rescue’s Neolife Ventilator costs only $3,500 dollars, a significant difference that allows a ventilator to be available in places it wouldn’t otherwise be. Because our devices are low-cost, they allow us to make life-saving medical devices more readily available in places where they cannot afford to get the high-tech devices that are common on the market. 

Neonatal Rescue is also innovative in that we provide extensive training to ensure the effective and proper usage of our life-saving devices. Although our simple and easy-to-understand devices require less training to learn to use, we make it our mission to provide more training than is usually provided. Our training provides an in-depth understanding of the “how-to” of using the device as well as resource-building healthcare. Neonatal Rescue also provides basic training on respiratory resuscitation so that healthcare workers know how to best help their patients. This comprehensive approach to training ensures that our devices are used to their maximum benefit. 

Our organization believes in and utilizes the train-the-trainer approach. This training strategy helps to establish an expert at each facility. It also magnifies our capabilities and resources. The Protege Effect describes the benefit of the train-the-trainer system, where teaching someone else creates a deeper and longer-lasting understanding of the concepts. Effective, thorough, and comprehensive training ensures our program is effective at saving lives. 

Neonatal Rescue is also innovative in our commitment to the maintenance of our devices after they are implemented. Another reason why a lot of donated medical devices go unused is because they break and are either too complicated to fix or the technicians that would be the ones to fix them don’t have the training to do so. We designed our devices to be modular, meaning that each component can be accessed and replaced independently of the other components. This makes repairs easy because it is not necessary to disassemble the entire device in order to replace one part. This also prevents other parts and components from being damaged during the repair. In order to do these repairs quickly and efficiently, we train local technicians on how to troubleshoot the devices and make the repairs. This allows all repairs to happen on-site rather than having to ship them back to the United States for repairs. Because we design our devices and training to ensure long-term maintenance, Neonatal Rescue is innovative in providing solutions to the problem of child mortality. 

Over the next 5 years, we plan to expand our product base and develop a fully outfitted low-cost NICU that we can help establish in these communities. This will allow us to expand our program to address not just birth asphyxia but also many of the other leading causes of infant mortality. This will give the people in these communities easier and quicker access to the life-saving treatment that they need.

 For example, we are currently working in Zambia. Zambia has 9 regions with 159 hospitals and clinics that need training and equipment, according to the Ministry of Health and World Vision. In 2022 we trained 141 medical professionals at 7 hospitals. The Neonatal Rescue team brought 10 Neolife ventilators to these hospitals. In the course of a week at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, four babies were put on two NeoLife machines, all successfully weaned. Two were discharged, one was scheduled to discharge, and one was being cared for in the NICU awaiting discharge.

 This year, we will return to Zambia to train at approximately 10 additional hospitals. Throughout this year, we analyze the data received to ensure we are successful in our intended outcomes of reduction of infant lives lost and reduction of mortality rates. At the end of the year, we evaluate our training program and make adjustments where needed.

Our mission aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.2- reducing the infant mortality rate to 12 per 1,000 by 2030. Birth asphyxia is readily treatable in developed countries, where medical staff are well-trained in how to treat neonatal respiratory distress, and medical ventilators and CPAP machines are available and in working order.  The World Health Organization estimates that globally, 24% of newborn deaths are caused by asphyxia related to Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome or NRDS.

These deaths can easily be avoided with simple equipment and training. By tackling this specific issue, we believe we can make a significant impact (up to 95%) on newborn mortality (Kamath et al., 2011). In 2019, when we visited Chey Chumneas Referral Hospital, Dr. Kong reported they had treated 26 babies who experienced respiratory distress in a one-year period. They used our treatment protocol and the Pumani CPAP. They successfully resuscitated 24 of the 26. The other two were transported to a larger hospital with positive pressure. They both survived. Additionally, the information from Preak Loung Health Center had implemented the protocol 23 times.

The UN has seen a decrease in infant mortality rates but is currently not on track to reach its goals in 37 countries. Accessibility to widely known treatments for NRDS can drastically impact the UN's Sustainable Development Goal to reduce infant mortality. We continue to collect data from our partner clinics and hospitals. 

Kamath, B. D., MacGuire, E. R., McClure, E. M., Goldenberg, R. L., & Jobe, A. H. (2011). Neonatal mortality from respiratory distress syndrome: Lessons for low-resource countries. Pediatrics, 127(6), 1139–1146. https://doi-org.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/10.1542/peds.2... 

The goal of the program is to reduce infant mortality by 95% through our three pillars: fit-for-purpose medical devices, training, and maintenance. Our short-term goals are to save the immediate lives of infants dying from NRDS. Infants benefit from our intervention through improved and prolonged lives, and the mothers and communities will also be spared the emotional impact of losing a child.  The doctors at the larger hospitals will also benefit because not as many patients will have to be referred to them from community clinics which will allow their hospitals to be less overwhelmed. Our local data collectors will travel to rural clinics as well as larger hospitals to record the live saved number of infants placed on medical devices and the number of medical staff trained.

 Over the long term, we expect to see an overall reduction in infant mortality rates. We aim to place our devices in hospitals and clinics in rural communities. Generally, the healthcare system in low-resource includes small clinics and hospitals in rural communities. When they do not have the resources to help a patient,  they refer them to a larger hospital that receives referrals from various small clinics and hospitals. By placing our devices in the smaller clinics and hospitals, we can help prevent the need for this referral system, therefore helping the patient receive more immediate treatment and preventing the bigger hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.

Our core technology is fit-for-purpose and is based on the needs of low-resource areas. As we have traveled to small clinics and hospitals in rural Cambodia and Zambia, we have found no computers, unstable electrical grids, and little to no medical supplies. High-tech ventilators and CPAP machines sit in glass cases and storage rooms. Medical staff do not know how to use them. They do not have computers to update software or input patient information. 

The tech they need is simple. It is easily fixable when broken. It is rugged for rural environments. It can continue to work when there is no electricity. It can be hooked up to oxygen or use ambient air. 

In order to accomplish our mission, we believe that we must be responsive to everyone in the community who receives services, regardless of race or ethnic background, gender, disabilities, sexual orientation, and cultural differences. We have created an organizational culture that values all people. Our commitment to inclusiveness will be evident in our organizational policies and procedures, including the hiring of people of all genders and races, or ethnic backgrounds. We stand firmly against discrimination and value respect, integrity, and honesty. 

Our primary goals, relative to the inclusiveness initiative, are to serve the people in the country we are working in and those who are impacted by the high infant mortality rates. Our vision is to create and implement a program that treats all people with dignity and respect. Our hiring and programs will reflect our commitment to inclusiveness and equity of services. We embrace the diversity of experiences and knowledge among the people we work with, particularly with regard to race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic background, gender, sexual orientation, age, and physical ability. 

Neonatal Rescue (NNR) is an impact-driven company that focuses on improving patient outcomes by providing innovative and affordable medical products and training in the developing world. 

NNR's primary product line targets respiratory care through both NeoLife and accessories. The NeoLife Ventilator is intended to treat newborns and infants. This product was designed in response to the nearly three million newborns that die each year due to lack of respiratory support within the first 28 days of life. It is unique in that it is designed to address the two major causes of these deaths; birth asphyxia and respiratory distress through CPAP and mechanical ventilation.  The NeoLife is inexpensive, simple to use, battery-operated, and requires no external gas source.  

 Our beneficiaries require training on respiratory care as well as the product in order to be successful. We do this by providing a program that includes the product, extended training, and maintenance support. This includes multiple stakeholders: for

As the hospitals and Ministries of Health in developing regions (where this program is needed most) lack the funds to provide appropriate equipment and training, we have developed multiple sources of revenue to be sustainable. This includes a private donor base, research, and government grants, as well as distribution into middle-income markets with profits benefiting the lower-income countries. Our core customers are Humanitarian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that are aligned with our mission. We leverage the NGOs' relationships with hospitals and Ministries of Health to determine where to start the program, or we use our own relationships that we’ve formed to do the same.

Implementations are usually phased using initial funds to start in a few hospitals. As impact success occurs, in other words, as babies are saved with our program, this data is shared with the NGO or donors, and further funds are secured to continue expansion to more hospitals.

*Secondary source of income is government/multilateral research grants. The data gathered during our implementation is very valuable, and we have developed a system to collect, compile and publish our work, funded by government grants. This published work validates our program's efficacy.

Since the birth of the concept in early 2016, Neonatal Rescue has performed in-depth market analysis to identify and validate potential needs in the market. From deep diving into the staggering number of newborn and adult respiratory death figures in developing nations to reviewing current needs face-to-face with in-country government leaders and medical providers. 

NGOs and Development Organizations: NGOs play the role of resource and program providers when and where governments and businesses can’t support societal and community needs. They use a multi-stakeholder approach to provide resources (funds, equipment, capacity building) and build programs and manage the implementations. The role NGOs and Development Organizations play in Neonatal Rescue’s business model is as funders and implementers working with the various stakeholders who they have existing relationships with.

Donors: Neonatal Rescue and its partner NGOs work with donor networks that have maternal, neonatal, and infant health-focused objectives. These groups provide cash, human, and equipment resources to organizations and programs that reduce mortality and increase the general health of a community. Neonatal Rescue is continually building its donor and funder network and works directly with NGOs to create impact, capture data that demonstrates the impact, and feed this information back to both organizations’ donor networks in order to receive and increase funding for programs.

Selling to Middle-Income Markets

We anticipate FDA approval of the Neolife ventilator in 2023. Once we have finished the regulatory process, middle-income markets will open for sales of the Neolife. The Neolife is also suitable for these markets, and we anticipate sales to increase and provide funding for our programs in low-resource countries. 

We currently work with several local foundations and corporations to fund our programs. This includes the Marc and Deborah Bingham Foundation, the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, the Fenton Foundation, the Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation, and ATL Technologies. We also have a signed agreement with World Vision in Zambia and the government of Cambodia to help fund our programs in their respective countries. 

In 2020, we were able to retrofit the Neolife Ventilator into an adult ventilator. The Adultlife was granted Emergency Authorized Use by the FDA. We sell this ventilator to large NGOs, including LDS charities and World Vision. The revenue of the sales of Adultlife is used to fund programs and overhead.