FUNDRAISING by the Blue Ribbon Foundation is underway to purchase two new life support machines for Peninsula Health.
The extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines cost $300,000. The new machines will be installed at the redeveloped Frankston Hospital. The machines offer temporary life-support for patients with severe or acute respiratory and cardiac failure. The Frankston E.C.M.O Unit is expected to be named in memory of the four police officers killed on the Eastern Freeway in 2020: Lynette Taylor, Kevin King, Joshua Prestney, and Glen Humphris.
Blue Ribbon Foundation CEO Neil Soullier said “we can do nothing to bring these members back but we can ensure that their sacrifice will be honoured in a way that recognises more how they lived, rather than how they died – serving the community and helping to save lives.”
“So many Victorians wrapped their arms around the families of these members and their police force in support of the families and we’re now appealing to the public and corporate donors to assist us in funding this very special, life-saving project that will stand as a ‘living memorial’ to Lynette, Kevin, Joshua and Glen,” he said.
“The Peninsula Branch of Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation committed to installing E.C.M.O at Frankston Hospital some time ago, with about one third of the funds already raised. But in order to complete the planned roll out of this life-saving service for all Victorians we have now launched a major appeal across Melbourne and Victoria in an effort to complete the funding to have the E.C.M.O Unit operational in time for the opening of the new Frankston Hospital.”
To donate visit remember.org.au/donate
First published in the Frankston Times – 25 February 2025