![\"Jacob](\"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Jacob-Thomas.png\")
<\/a>simple, noninvasive and quick. And it has the potential to save lives. The state Assembly passed a bill that would make sure all newborns receive a simple pulse oximetry test before discharge.\u00a0 Pulse oximetry, or pulse ox, screening \u2013 a sensor put on a finger and foot to calculate the amount of oxygen in the blood stream \u2013 is the most effective way to screen for congenital heart defects, the leading cause of death for children with a birth defect.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was harrowing to learn that our child needed surgery after a pulse ox test detected a dangerously low oxygen level,\u201d said Kelsey Thomas of Syracuse, who traveled to Albany in April to ask her elected officials to pass the Pulse Ox bill. Her son, Jacob, is now 13 months old. \u201cHowever, there are mothers out there who don\u2019t know anything is wrong until it is too late. We were lucky. I\u2019m glad the New York state Assembly moved the pulse ox bill one step closer to law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/i>“I believe that routine utilization of this simple test will aid in the detection of critical\u00a0congenital heart defects\u00a0before babies ever go home from the hospital, thus avoiding potentially disastrous complications,\u201d said Neil Devejian, M.D., chief of the division of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. \u201cQuite simply, this will save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heart defects are the No. 1 defect in newborns, affecting approximately 1 in 100 babies. Thirteen other states call for babies to be screened with a pulse ox test, but New York doesn\u2019t \u2013 yet. Wider use of pulse ox screening could identify more than 90 percent of heart defects. In New Jersey, just hours after the pulse ox law took effect, a newborn\u2019s life was saved.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day we wait is a day another baby could go home undiagnosed,\u201d said Julianne Hart, the American Heart Association\u2019s government relations director for New York. \u201cThe test is quick painless and cheap.\u00a0 And more importantly, a lifesaver.\u00a0 The Assembly has done the right thing, and we encourage the Senate and the Governor to act to protect our smallest hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pulse Oximetry Bill, A2316\/S270, is sponsored by Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, D-Forestburgh and state Sen. William Larkin, R-Cornwall-on-Hudson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
American Heart Association hopes for prompt action from Senate and Governor (Albany, NY \u2013 May 31) It\u2019s simple, noninvasive and quick. And it has the potential to save lives. The state Assembly passed a bill that would make sure all newborns receive a simple pulse oximetry test before discharge.\u00a0 Pulse oximetry, or pulse ox, screening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22341],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-regional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}