Local kids may not know it, but a long-anticipated piece of equipment recently made its debut in Southeastern North Carolina.

Even though New Hanover Regional Medical Center officials hope area children will never become personally familiar with the Neonatal-Pediatric Critical Care Transport Vehicle, they welcome its arrival here.

The ambulance is specially designed to help fragile newborns and children from the seven-county area surrounding Wilmington to safely travel to receive the level of care they need, hospital officials said.

The state-of-the-art vehicle was presented at an open house Nov. 8 at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

“Adding this specialized transport vehicle to our fleet provides another level of advanced care for children and families in this region.

We will now have additional specialized transport equipment that matches the high level of skill of our providers,” said Jack Barto, president and CEO of NHRMC, in a prepared statement.

With $125,000 grant from the Eshelman Foundation in place to purchase the vehicle, the NHRMC Foundation raised $125,000 in matching donations from community. Donations were also received from a Chords for a Cause benefit concert, the Cape Fear Memorial Foundation, Wachovia/Wells Fargo, the Babies Hospital Foundation and Verizon.

“Having this vehicle could save lives by allowing us to more rapidly respond to emergencies involving newborns and children from eastern North Carolina and South Carolina,” Dr. Fernando Moya, director of neonatology at the Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital, said in a prepared statement.

The neonatal/pediatric critical care transport vehicle is capable of transporting two neonatal isolettes or two transport stretchers, and a crew of up to six medical personnel and a driver, hospital officials said.

The vehicle includes a DVD player with a built-in flat screen monitor, soft interior colors with a beach theme, and ceiling panels resembling the sky filled with hot air balloons. The interior “makes the ride a little less scary and provides a welcome distraction for children,” hospital spokeswoman Erin Balzotti said.

“This will be the first unit in our region that is solely designed for infants and children and specially equipped to handle the needs of the most critically ill quickly and safely,” said Dr. Joseph Pino, director of pediatric specialty services at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, in a prepared statement.

The Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital is home to the region’s only Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The 45-bed unit offers technically advanced care for premature or critically ill babies.