Sierra Leone, December 2017

  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
  • Sierra Leone 2017
 MISSION SUMMARY:

Date: Nov 30 – Dec 14 2017
Location: Kabala Government Hospital, Kabala, Sierra Leone
Team Size: 18
Length of Mission: 10 days (+4 days follow up for Global Surgery Fellow)
Number of patients seen/triaged: ~100
Number of Surgeries Performed: 65

 BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

This was ISHI’s fourth trip to Kabala Government Hospital (KGH), but first since the Ebola crisis affected the country. After 3 annual trips from 2011-2013, with broken hearts, ISHI had to cancel the 2014 mission to KGH due to the crisis. We are extremely happy to finally return to our friends in Kabala, now that the crisis has passed. Our objective was to perform 50 free, safe surgeries, to provide didactic and clinical education (including the ACSCOT Basic Bleeding Control course), and to encourage knowledge exchange between the ISHI and KGH teams.

 PATIENTS AND LOCATION

Patients from the surrounding Koinadugu region were recruited weeks before the ISHI team arrival by radio advertising and word of mouth spread by the KGH staff.  Patients were pre- screened prior to arrival by the local physicians and community health officers (CHOs) to ensure efficient triage. Over 80 patients were triaged and 58 scheduled for surgery. The remaining patients who could not receive safely receive surgery from the ISHI team, were provided with consultations and referrals.

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ISHI Sierra Leone 2017 Team

 MISSION ACHIEVEMENTS:

A total of 65 operations were performed on 58 patients, setting a new high for ISHI on a 1 week mission for the 2nd straight mission. Three hours of formal nursing lectures and countless hours of bedside/practical education was performed by various member of the ISHI team. The ISHI emergency medicine physician also performed 36 medical consults and 55 ultrasound consultations for ISHI/KGH patients.

One of our proudest achievements on this mission was teaching the #StopTheBleed campaign Basic Bleeding Control (B-Con) course to over 300 participants over 12 hour long sessions. More importantly we trained one local instructor to continue the teaching after we left. KGH healthcare workers, local volunteers from MSF, police officers, soldiers, and motorcycle taxi drivers were all trained in basic bleeding control techniques that we believe could save many lives in a country with a high prevalence of road traffic incidents.

Dr. Peter Johnston, with the help of local champion Samba Jalloh, once again stayed behind the mission for four extra days to ensure appropriate surgical follow up and was able to see 55 out of 58 patients thanks to the help of the KGH staff. Only a few manageable issues were found and referred to the local team for any further management in coordination with ISHI team via WhatsApp.

Special Thanks to:

Peter Konteh - for hosting the team at his guesthouse and acting as our guide to Koinadugu
Samba Jalloh – Long-time local champion for ISHI, helping to arrange many of the in-country logistics before, during, and after the mission. He also became the first #StopTheBleed instructor in Sierra Leone.
Peacemaker Kargbo – On the ground support, Dr. Adrian Hanciles – Medical Superintendent at KGH, Alpha Samura – CHO surgeon at KGH, Lamin Marah - CHO anesthetist at KGH, Allie Conteh – logistical support in Freetown, Malik Jalloh – ISHI volunteer and founder of Saving Live Initiatives for help with contacts in country

 MISSION VOLUNTEERS:

Surgical Team: David Livingston MD, Ziad Sifri MD, Julie Valenzuela MD, Reyna Gonzalez MD, Peter Johnston MD, Vennila Padmanaban MD
Anesthesia: Bruno Beja-Umukoro CRNA, Adrian Essilfie CRNA, Melinda Ball MD
PAR/Ward: Lanika Tucker RN, Eliud Kamana RN, Kimberly Grey RN, Beka Bosire RN
OR Nurse/Tech: Bobbie Barton RN, Michael Spurling RN
Medical/Ultrasound: Rolando Valenzuela MD
Mission coordinator: Vickey Patel PT
Logistics Support: Bibo Sabbagh, Debbie Livingston

 

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