IRVINE : Videos Sought to Soothe the Sick

When 12-year-old Staci Eisman’s older brother was hospitalized last summer for 15 days, the only thing that relieved his boredom was her constant supply of videotapes.

Now Staci wants to help ease the stress of hospitalization for young people throughout Orange County with videotapes donated for pediatric wards.

When her brother Todd, 15, was in the intensive-care unit at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, suffering painful complications from surgery, a hospital videocassette player and his sister’s tapes helped keep his morale up, said Staci’s mother, Jan Eisman, an Irvine business consultant.

In the pediatric ward, the hospital provided a portable videocassette player to be shared among the young patients.

“It would just kind of freshen up their supply,” Eisman said of the family’s videotape donations, “so other kids could also enjoy them.”

Although a number of county hospitals make video equipment available, longer-term patients quickly discover the supply of videotapes for children is limited, Eisman said.

This prompted Staci to make an appeal to the congregation of University Synagogue in Irvine for videotape donations. Since setting up a collection box at the synagogue last month, Staci has received 89 videotapes. Her goal is to receive 150 tapes by the end of November, when she plans to distribute them among county hospitals.

“This way, kids can take their minds off their surgery or whatever’s happening to them,” Staci said. “It’s just something to help keep them busy.”

Donations may be made at University Synagogue, 2955 Main St., Suite No. 320, Irvine.