Week 1 in the Hospital

So we just finished our first week as actual volunteers in Hospital El Progreso.  As I said before, I didn't really know what to expect, but went in with some ideas about how best to get things started: meet the right people, get on their good side somehow, show them that we can be productive/helpful workers, and then just wait for the equipment to start rolling in.  Turns out I had a few things to learn about that too :)  The first couple of days, I tried to be patient and let things run their course.  But at some point on Wednesday, we realized how quickly the month was passing us by, and we didnt really have time to lay 'groundwork' and let the work come to us, so to speak.  Up to that point, we had been cleaning nebulizers and dials, and basically just putting the finishing touches on some other equipment before it was sent back to the hospital.  Since then, we have been trying to work around the normal 'chain of command' in the maintenance department, and see if we can find someplace where we can make a real contribution.

On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, we were able to speak directly with doctors and nurses, as well as the head of the maintenance department (Jorge, who had been out on holiday).  The head surgeon came to us with a suction pump, which we were able to fix that afternoon and get back to her the next morning.  After that, we got our hands on an IV infusion pump, and helped the nurses translate the users manual so they could avoid an alarm that they had been getting.  We were sent another suction pump on Friday (which had another simple problem), and will be sending that back soon.  In all, we have gotten about a dozen pieces of equipment into service, which is a lot more than I expected for the first week. 

 

Marcello looking at an anesthesia machine (one of the things we haven't repaired... yet).

The inside of one part of the bodega.  Piles of pills, disposable equipment, etc, laying on top of a perfectly functional incubator that the nurses don't know how to use.  We are having a training session on Wednesday, hopefully something sticks!

My favorite repair happened on Friday.  The surgeon came to us with a large electrosurgery unit, which they were using for laparoscopic surgery.  If you are not familiar with these things, they output a huge amount of wattage, and basically act as a scalpel that cuts using electrical current.  (In other words, they can be kind of dangerous if someone screws up the repair.)  Anyways, the surgeon came to us saying that the unit was only working when it was set to extremely high wattage, and was not functioning at all at lower settings.  We initally told the her that we did not have any experience with the inner workings of these kinds of machines and that they were very dangerous.  We took a look at it anyways, and tried to use the machine on a piece of liver that we got from the hospital kitchen (they were cooking it for lunch that day - que rico :) ).  We were able to reproduce the fault, and took a closer look at the cables and dispersive electrode.  Long story short, we were able to identify a broken connection, and fixed it with a new clip and a bit of solder.  Even though it was an incredibly simple fix, it kind of felt like we had achieved something... and I didn't think that would happen the first week (if at all).

All of our 'fixes' have been really easy and basic changes, so I am thinking that we are getting our hands on the low hanging fruit and our output might start slowing down soon.  But regardless, it feels really good to give equipment back to the clinicians, and see how our work helps them to do their jobs and help more people.

Anyways, thats all I have that is work-related.  Next post will have some pictures from our weekend at the most amazing beach I have ever seen...

Adios!
-Eric