Open Heart — Vivian Wan

Open Heart- Cardiac Alliance and UNHCR
February 2022- Ongoing

This collection of images aims to shed light on the demanding and complex nature of humanitarian aid efforts on delivering pediatric care, underscoring the urgent need for a global conversation on healthcare accessibility. These photographs capture heartfelt moments shared among families and the dedicated work of medical professionals in intensive care units, operating rooms, and various hospital areas in Lebanon, Iraq, and Ukraine. These powerful images also highlight the additional challenges stemming from socio-political and economic factors, such as limited access to medications, inadequate medical training, and resource shortages.

Tanya embraces her 3 month old son, Alexander, in the intensive care unit. Alexander has spent his entire life in the intensive care unit, discounting the week he was born in a bomb shelter after the war started. Inadequate access to the necessary medical instruments and medications hindered Alexander’s progress. He required re-intervention on a previous surgery and two other surgeries before four years of age. Due to the efforts of Dr. Jessica Green, the family is now safe in Germany with better access to medical care after acquiring last-minute refugee papers for a rescue flight out of Ukraine.

A family sits outside the consultation room for echocardiogram testing.

A mother and her son wait for their turn to receive an echocardiogram test. This test will help diagnose heart disease by scanning the heart’s structure and nearby vessels.

Rima Othman, a third-year medical student, leads a family into a consultation room for echocardiogram testing while another family waits for theirs.

Medical staff attempt to insert an IV line into a patient pre- operation. The mother, unable to stand her daughter’s cries, stands outside the doorway.

Medical staff prepare a patient for a cat scan.

A mother holds her son’s hand above his head during a cat scan.

Anesthesiologist Vancho Jovanov and cardiologist John Breinholt look on as a nurse embraces four-year-old Wissan after a tense catheter procedure.

A mother attempts to comfort her infant during surgery preparation.

A patient is given a muscle relaxant during the induction of the general anesthesia process before surgery.

OR nurse Martina Pavanic (right) assists anesthesiologists Vancho Jovanov (left) and Assem Sleiman (center) check a patient’s saturation probe.

Perfusionist Lazo Eremija (left) fi lls a syringe with saline as the OR team tends to a patient for their operation.

A surgeon applies Betadine on 3-month-old Sanad before surgery. This tan liquid is a common surgical practice to help reduce bacteria on and around skin incision sites.

Surgeons Vitaly Dedovich and Walid Serhan performs open heart surgery.

A surgeon on the right sews a patch into the heart with a castro needle carrier in his hand while others work on suction. Around the incision site are bypass tubes, also known as cannulas. It is connected to the bypass machine and acts as an artifi cial circulator for blood and oxygen fl ow. In the bottom left corner, an aortic cannula fl ows blood from the body to the bypass machine. On the bottom right corner, the superior vena cava cannula drains blood from the upper body, and the tubing in the center drains from the lower body.

Perfusionist Federica Raffi n pays a visit to 5-month-old Zubrytska after an operation.

Doctors Petr Jirasek (far left), William Novick, and Jessica Green (far right), alongside respiratory therapist Nathan England (second-left) discuss the care for a one-week-old patient on the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine.

An Iraqi medical team holds their mobile phones above the surgical setting as the surgical team performs open heart surgery after an electrical power outage

Prayers written over the chest of nine-year old Sajad.

Four-year-old Yamen receives a post-operation x-ray.

The ICU night shift team adjusts the bed padding of six-days-old Rouquaya.

Due to restrained resources during the war, medical staff must improvise with the remaining tools, drugs, and medications for treatment. Unfortunately, this patient’s infection proved too strong for the remedies available within the country. From the left, nurse Vanessa Gilbertson embraces a mother for consolation in response to the conversation about the potential development of her daughter’s condition. Dr. Petr Jirasek lowers his head in sorrow after delivering the challenging discussion.

Nurse Lutchmee Kisten watches over a one-year-old patient in the intensive care unit.

The clubbed toe of six-year-old Wilayat peeks out from her blanket while she waits for a plasma transfusion. Clubbing is often a signifi er of below-normal blood oxygen levels, also known as hypoxemia.

Four-year-olds Wissan and Yamen play outside the post-operation ward corridor as their mothers look ahead.

Ira holds her one week old son, Matvii, for the first time after their transfer from Ivano-Frankivsk to Lviv for his heart surgery. Here, she tries to describe the experience to the attending nurse.

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