Variety Children’s Lifeline has two methods for serving the children who so urgently need help: (1) Lifeline sponsors teams of medical personnel throughout each year to travel to developing countries where the medical community is ill equipped to handle such cases. (2) In addition, when it is impossible to operate in-country because of post-operative care needs, or because the equipment is inadequate, or the procedure is complex, Lifeline sponsors children to travel to the United States to one of its Core Hospitals.

During these medical missions, doctors from the US are eager to share their knowledge with their medical colleagues in the correspondent country. A rich resource of medical knowledge and equipment remain in the developing country, and the mission creates an integrated cross-cultural medical team. The US Hospital mission team makes repeated trips to the selected correspondent hospital in the developing country with the goal of building a self-sustained team and related equipment.

Lifeline’s medical mission teams are volunteer physicians such as cardiologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists and intensivists, as well as other critical medical staff including perfusionists, respiratory therapists and nurses, none of whom receive any financial compensation. Lifeline’s dedication is rewarded by the offering of life and hope to the children of our world where none exists.

The cost per child on a typical medical mission is approximately $1,500. The retail value of such surgery and related expenses if done at a hospital in the US would amount to $125,000 per child – this includes hospital fees, doctor fees, pre and post-operative care, transportation, medications and more.