Date: November 28 to December 8 2018
Location: Kabala General Hospital
Team Size: 18
Length of Mission: 11 days
Number of Surgeries Performed: 76
This was ISHI’s 5th mission to Kabala Government Hospital in Kabala, Sierra Leone, and the 2nd visit since the Ebola crisis. The rural area of Kabala has enjoyed improvements to infrastructure over the past year. The ISHI team was invited back to KGH with approval from the local and hospital leadership Dr. Stephen Forney, Peter Konteh, Peacemaker, as well as the regional tribal leaders to provide free surgical care and education. We planned for pediatric and adult surgical cases including umbilical hernias, inguinal and femoral hernias, mass excisions, genitourinary cases, and hydroceles. Additionally, we planned local teaching exchanges towards capacity building of local providers. We supported local humanitarian and charitable initiatives such as the Kabala Blind School.
ISHI volunteers in coordination with local staff triaged and performed surgical consultations on 100 patients. Patients arrived from a wide rural encatchment area outside of Kabala General Hospital in Koinadugu District, Sierra Leone.
We performed 76 operations on 70 patients, conducting surgical consultations on remaining patients. The team physical therapist conducted physical therapy on inpatients. Concurrently, hands-on teaching, demonstrations, and case-discussions occurred between ISHI and local RNs. The local non-physician surgeons Alpha Samura and Lawrence Kargbo participated in numerous operative cases for continuing surgical education and bidirectional knowledge exchange. Stop The Bleed Training was conducted for medical and non-medical personnel. Finally, follow-up care was performed after the mission by a small team who remained behind to report good outcomes and high patient satisfaction.
Through the mission duration, charitable initiatives included the donation of birthing kits in coordination with the Rutgers – NJMS Association of Women in Surgery.
Special thanks to:
Peter Bayuku Konteh – Minister of Trade & Industry, Sierra Leone
Peacemaker Balansama Kargbo – Head Nurse and Health Program Officer for the Nasarah Clinic, and leader at the Kabala School for the Blind.
Dr. Stephen Forney – Medical Superintendent, Kabala General Hospital
Samba Jalloh – Freetown Medical House Officer
Lamin Marah CHO – Local Community Health Officer and Anesthetist
Alpha Samura, CHO – Local Surgeon
Lawrence Kargbo, CHO – Local Surgeon
Allie Conteh – local contact providing logistic support
Mohammed Goldman - local contact providing logistic support
Surgical Team: Ziad Sifri MD, David Livingston MD, Surnimal Ghosh MD, Megan Chan MD, Vennila Padmanaban MD, Umaru Barrie MS4
Physical Therapist: Vickey Patel, MS, PT
Anesthesia Team: Bruno Beka-Umukoro CRNA, Abdul-Malik Jalloh CRNA
PAR/Ward: Jessica Barbosa APN, Cassie Thomas APN, Eliud Kamana RN, Kimberly Gray RN
OR Nurse/Tech: Bing Zheng RN, Marcia Beresford RN, Michael Spurling RN
Artist in Humanitarian Cultural Initiatives: Debbie Livingston
Mission Coordinator & Logistics Support: Ziad Sifri, Vickey Patel, Debbie Livingston, Badara Kamara