A significant amount of prep work is occurring during these final days before we leave for Ethiopia, Everyone wants the operating schedule to flow smoothly, so there is much dialog circling about the organization of the flow of patients. Scott, the person who is in charge of the Gimbie Hospital operating room, sent this email today:
The OB/GYN surgeons at Gimbie will be Dr. Tekle (Ethiopian, Maternity World Wide) and Dr. Leonie ( UK , Maternity World Wide). I do want to assure you that our surgeons will make all efforts to appropriately follow up on each patient.
Our operating room is set up with two operating theatres. Most general surgeries and C/S are performed in OR 1. We will use OR 2 for the UVP surgeries, since it has the only OR table where a patient can be placed in a lithotomic position. I apologize that this table is very old and not the most convenient, but it is all we have. Portable lighting is the only available lighting in OR 2, and is not the most desirable.
I appreciate that your team is bringing instruments, drapes, and gowns, since all of these items are at a premium here. Our instruments are old, and our drapes and gowns are still laundered by hand. We are also having a difficult time obtaining the necessary sutures in Ethiopia at this time. I was glad to hear that you would be able to bring those supplies, as well. If any mesh material is needed in the surgeries, it also must be brought from the States, since this too is difficult to find.
At this time, we have three Ethiopian nurses that assist, and four other personnel that can circulate, and two nurse anesthetists. Since charting is minimal, the room turn over is quite fast. We have extra personnel to clean and ready the room in about 15 minutes post surgery. Our limiting factors are making sure the patient is admitted and is NPO the night before. It is also difficult to perform elective surgeries between the sacred Ethiopian lunchtime that ranges from 12 to 2pm every day. Currently, our whole OR team is new and still training, so that must also be added to the equation. But I must say they are all enjoyable to work with and willing to learn.