Sick kids across the central west will have a chance to stay closer to home when 10 of the region’s hospitals and health services receive a ‘Neo Puff’ infant resuscitation device.
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The annual KidzFix Rally will finish at Dubbo on September 16, with the proceeds of the nine-day charity event to go to projects in the Western NSW Local Health District (LHD).
Health services at Collarenebri, Nyngan, Brewarrina, Condobolin, Rylstone, Lightning Ridge, Coonamble, Coonabarabran, Wellington and Coolah will all receive a ‘Neo Puff’ device.
At Dubbo Hospital, a Vienviewer will enable staff to find veins when administering needles and cannulas, saving sick kids from unnecessary distress.
A total of $88,000 has been pledged from this year’s rally, with the KidzFix Foundation working with the Western NSW LHD to choose the projects.
“The western health district is something like 50 per cent of the state so to work with them to provide essential equipment like this is pretty profound,” said Dubbo’s David Ward, who is the foundation’s managing director.
“To all of a sudden be sick and sent off to a big hospital in a big town or city, with or without family, for things that could and should be done more locally … there’s a lot of stuff that can be done in regional areas and that’s where the foundation comes in.
“We want to keep kids in their families and within their towns for as much as their medical needs as they can get because it is tough.”
The 2017 Kidzfix Rally will start at Ballina on Friday, September 8 and travel west to Tenterfield, Goondiwindi and St George in Queensland before turning south towards Lightning Ridge. There, rally teams will enjoy a rest day before heading to Nyngan.
From Nyngan the teams will travel to an “overnight mystery location”, before the adventure concludes at Dubbo on Saturday, September 16.
Along the way teams will pay for food, fuel and accommodation as well as any mechanical repairs that are required, injecting additional income into each town.
“You’re looking at upwards of $20,000 every time we go into a town,” Mr Ward said.
In addition, two rural schools – in Hebel, Queensland and Carinda, NSW – will receive a donation of sporting equipment and books.
If the 2017 rally raises more money than expected, Mr Ward said they would be looking for other projects to support.
“We’re really encouraging communities and charities to get in touch with us,” Mr Ward said.
“If they’ve got an appeal that they want us to look at then we can look at them throughout the year, or we can look at going through their town or starting or finishing the rally there another year.”
