Stollery Children's Hospital - Fish Tank Campaign

[Aquattro]

As someone that spends way too much time in the Pediatric ICU, I know that 50k worth of equipment is a much greater donation than a reef tank. That equipment kept my daughter alive last month, which is much more important that spending it on a tank. Yes, a tank is nice and kids like looking at it for a few minutes, but the suggested RSM might be a better alternative. Just my opinion as a parent of a kid that spends too many days in the hospital.

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

As someone that spends way too much time in the Pediatric ICU, I know that 50k worth of equipment is a much greater donation than a reef tank. That equipment kept my daughter alive last month, which is much more important that spending it on a tank. Yes, a tank is nice and kids like looking at it for a few minutes, but the suggested RSM might be a better alternative. Just my opinion as a parent of a kid that spends too many days in the hospital.

+1 totally agree with you Brad. Also, while its a nice thought, the money would be way better spent on equipment.

FYI I've seen really cool 30g reef fish tanks, that I'm sure the children would find interesting to look at.

[reefwars]

One concern I see is what if the tank blows out, who covers the damage and what happens God forbid someone gets hurt.

Def nice to see someone wanting to do so much but I agree that maybe the hospital would do better with the money towards things they desperately need.

[Aquattro]

I guess my question is why? Sure, it's an impressive undertaking, but are we trying to impress someone? I know that supplying suction catheters isn't as grandeur, but trust me, there's a shortage. More times than not, I've had to come home to get supplies that the hospital just didn't have. My daughter needed 8 dosing pumps and a ventilator, not to mention just one food supplement that's $1000/day to supply. 50k can feed kids like that for less than 2 months.
And without full time supervision, a 600g tank is going to look like a large version of that dentist's tank in no time at all. Anyone that has a large tank will tell you it's not a part time job to maintain.
Really, if your heart is in helping the kids, buy them a biocube and some suction catheters.

[tgrover]

Hi Brad,

I should ask... would you be interested in helping with this project? I'm not here to impress anyone except the kids. If the campaign changes to include donating a tank and matching equipment that would be great.

We could really use someone with your real experience with the hospital.

Would you like to help mold the efforts?

Tim
ps. Just to put it out there my planning has and will be focused on the money side, that's my background. We are looking for help on the reef tank side and... thanks to Brad's comments, we need to focus on helping the kids medically as well.

[howdy20012002]

If you are serious about this, I would suggest going and talking to the owner of AI.
they have tanks around the city in various public buildings and I am pretty sure that they do it all as advertisement..they also have full time staff running around doing tank maintenance.
I still think a 600 gallon is going to be a very steep hill and like many others have suggested, the money may be better spent elsewhere.
however, perhaps a smaller tank, like a 90 gallon FOWLR is something that is a more reasonable goal and I personally would be willing to help supply fish and LR towards its completion.
the biggest thing, IMO, to make this happen is so that it is not going to cost the hospital anything as I am pretty sure you will not be able to convince them that the money is well spent on fish verse kids....
I think that you are going to need to get a maintenance company on board that is willing to donate their time and supplies to maintain the tank...otherwise I don't see this happening.
As much as I like your enthusiasm, I personally think that taking people's money as donations at this point is a bit premature as there are many many steps in this procedure and I don't see this being a quick venture.
all the best
and like I said, Marine Experience will be willing to donate some fish and LR towards this if it reaches the point of filling the tank.
Neal

[tgrover]

Hi Neal,

We are working with a LFS that jumped on this fast. They also have tanks everywhere and have been instrumental in the high level planning. The ongoing maintenance has been the main can be dealt with. I will share more once we agree on their role in the project.

It is early, there is no doubt about that but that's the way I make things happen. The importance of raising some funds early is that corporate sponsors will come on board with more confidence.

I am going to PM you as well.

Thanks,

Tim

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by tgrover

Hi Brad,

I should ask... would you be interested in helping with this project?

No, I'm far too busy with my own sick kid But honestly, I know for a fact that the most important thing to a kid with an occluded airway is O2. Not a reef tank in the hall that is full of cyano because all the staff keep feeding it. I know that when the RT can't find a 4.0 peds trach because they ran out, that getting air in my daughter is more important than fish. I don't want to be mean, but buying a reef tank for the sick kids is like buying a 84" LED flat screen for an African village that simply needs water. Really nice thought, but pointless and wasteful in the end.
And it's not just here, we're pretty well off. Montego Bay hospital doesn't even have regulators on their O2 tanks in ER. So many kids could benefit from medical supplies with 50k. For me, a tank donation just takes away from what they really need to get better and go home.
Speaking of home, I have 10k worth of medical equipment here. I know some families can't get what they need due to wait lists.
I know there is no funding for training programs for trached kids, so my wife and I offer free training through our local PEDs unit. We donated gear to a woman up Island that adopted a Vietnamese boy with a trach, and was struggling to find all the gear. We gave her free training because there just isn't any.
A reef tank, in the big picture of needs, is really wasted dollars.

[tgrover]

Hi Brad,

That is a really good point. Really good. However the Stollery Foundation does look for donations and invest in plenty of therapeutic and ancillary components to the hospital as I'm sure you see every day.

There is no doubt that medical equipment is priority one.

Our group wants to give something special that will last for years to come.

The are endless details and considerations that have to be dealt with.

Please keep the comments coming as they will help this happen .

Thanks.