One of the many inspirational stories we are happy to
share from our Project S.A.V.E. family
(Note: Project
SAVE donated the oxygenator, electric hospital beds and
ambu bags mentioned in this story.)
Hello to All….I am
writing this entry from the U.S. We have been in the
States for six weeks now and it is such a difference in
the world of "high speed connections!" Here you have
access to the world within seconds… such a difference
from the world of "dial-up and outages and 'our system
is down' that we experience when in Zambia. Well, now
that I can...
I want to share with you a blog that I tried to
send while in Zambia before I left, but unfortunately
was unable to do so.
I wanted to tell you
about Ian….
Sal was in town and Geoffrey was on call… there was a
knock at my door and Anna said, "There is an emergency,
can you come." I immediately followed her to the clinic
to find a 68-year-old white farmer lying in the bed with
a concerned wife standing at his side, and a son at the
foot of the bed. They were very eager to start telling
me their story.
As I listened to his
words, I observed the surroundings to find that Geoffrey
had already attached the transformer to raise the head
of the hospital bed, and then to the oxygen concentrator
which he had already brought out of the supply room.
"Good job, Geoffrey" I thought so far, but I was a
little confused when I saw the wife squeezing an Ambu
bag over her husband's face that had a nasal cannula in
place but not in his nostrils.
As I looked closer I
realized he was conscious and breathing on his own… so
why the Ambu? This reminded me of a scenario in an ACLS
class!!! Well, seems Ian had a history of high blood
pressure and an episode of bronchitis in the past month.
That morning at the breakfast table, his wife told me,
"he went out a couple times where he stopped breathing"
and had to be stimulated to "come to."
They put him in the car
and started to "speed" off toward Livingstone, about
35km, away to a private physician in town. Well, here in
Zambia you can't "speed" anywhere because of all the
bush roads but especially because of the crater-filled
main road to town. After a half an hour of travel they
decided to stop at Sons of Thunder
Clinic for help.
As I continued to ask
questions and listen I slowly and calmly walked over to
Ian's wife and took the Ambu bag out of her hand,
checked the O2 concentrator and placed the cannula in
his nose. During a brief break in the conversation I
took vital signs and then proceeded to call Sal.
After hearing the report
and assessment of Ian's condition, Sal decided to head
back to the clinic. While waiting for Sal, Geoffrey
started an IV and we made Ian comfortable.
He began to regain color
and was able to answer questions. He even began to crack
jokes, which I discovered was part of his sarcastic
personality. Once Sal arrived, he dug out the
monitor/defibrillator and the pads. Using the machine as
a heart monitor, we were able to see a very rough
picture of the heart rhythm. Sal diagnosed him as having
an MI (heart attack), administered appropriate
medication and started to prepare the Land Rover for
transport into Livingstone.
With the back of the
Rover padded with a mattress and multiple pillows for
propping, Sal and I transported Ian and his wife to the
private physician in town. After verbal and written
reports were given, assistance to get Ian transferred to
a patient room and placed on O2 again (we were unable to
run O2 during transport) and multiple thank you's and
goodbyes, we headed back to the clinic.
After talking to the
doctor the next day, we found out that Ian had been sent
on a commercial airline to South Africa for continued
treatment.
Ian was our first cardiac
patient and the first real EMS system in operation - the
first time when we could actually see transfer of care
to a higher level. It was a good feeling.
Sons of Thunder
Clinic, Zambia
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