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The £4,000 Rhino Sensory Voyager machine |
Rhino relaxation: Voyage of fun for young patients
BUBBLES and flashing lights are more likely to be found in a Costa del Sol nightclub than the sterile corridors of a hospital but at St Mary’s they do things differently.
The £4,000 Rhino Sensory Voyager machine is billed as a “sensory experience” for children and is designed to help distract youngsters coming round from anaesthetic at the Paddington hospital.
Housed in the paediatric intensive care unit, the machine (left) projects coloured images onto the ceiling, plays music and features fibre-optic lights, mirrors and a tube of bubbling water.
Senior play specialist Caroline Jenkins said: “As the children are coming out of sedation, the trolley helps to stimulate them and lets them readjust. Some children can get quite upset about going to theatre but the trolley means they wake up to a nice experience.”
Young patients often wake up after an operation feeling disoriented, unable to move, and in some cases panicky. The “Rhino” is intended to have a cathartic effect, helping the waking children relax and escape from the strange sensations they might be experiencing.
It was donated by Children of St Mary’s Intensive Care, or COSMIC, the charity set up to help fund life-saving equipment and research.
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