12 Year Old Girl Invents An Adorable Teddy Bear That Hides IV Bags Making Infusions Less Scary To Children

Ella Casano, a 12 year old girl who has been receiving intravenous (IV) infusions for ITP since the age of seven, came up with the really brilliant idea that would make the experience less scary for other kids, the Medi Teddy. This clever invention is an adorable teddy bear that offers a friendly face to a child while hiding an IV bag in a mesh pouch in the bear’s back. Ella based the Medi Teddy on her own experience.

More: Medi Teddy, Instagram h/t: laughingsquid

“The cool thing about Medi Teddy is that it belongs to the child and they can bring it to all of their infusions. It’s not thrown away or passed on to someone else. You can give it a name (mine is Bailey) and it will be your buddy during the long days at the hospital!”

Like a special blankie, pillowcase, or stuffed animal brought from home, Medi Teddy is not a sterile item.

Neither is an IV bag or IV tubing in most infusion settings; doctors, nurses, and even parents touch the outside of IVs bags and tubing all the time. Sometimes we do this to help a child move from wheelchair to bed, use the toilet, change IV poles, or simply to organize cords, wires, and tubing.

Medi Teddy does not touch medication, simply the outside of the bag of IV fluids.

Medi Teddy works best if you slip the IV bag or medication into the pouch with the port exiting the bottom and then spike the bag in the usual way. Hang Medi Teddy on the pole with the bag of fluid or medication. Medi Teddy does not hold the weight of an IV bag.