Operation Medical Malawi Mission – A Short Recap of Sunday October 5, 2014

The team has arrived!! Today was a busy day and the mission participants were buzzing with excitement. In the morning the team went to the Hospital for a tour of the wards and operating rooms. Mission supply bags were set up in the temporary supply room and the Operation Medical team met the staff of the Hospital. Dr. Baker Henson, Dr. Wayne Myers and Dr. Bipin Patel met with the senior resident and went over the list of cases scheduled for Monday. The list contains 15 cases and the procedures include: hernias, rectal tumors, goiter, chest wall mass, occipital mass and modified radical mastectomy.

Dr. Amber Newell; Jennifer Silvey, RN; and Ashley Myers went directly to the Emergency Room in the morning and the Hospital staff were elated to see them arrive. During the course of the day Emergency Room procedures included: insertion of naso gastric tube, treatment of a case of Ludwig’s angina, dressing and treating 3 burn patients, incision and drainage of occipital abscess and treatment of mutiple musculoskeletal injuries. Over 10 procedures were performed.

The Emergency Room team felt that it was amazing to see the level of care that was given in the Emergency Room despite the limited resources. Anyone that needed to be admitted was admitted. Because of limited resources, creativity was necessary for how patient care was delivered.

Tomorrow begins the official start of the mission and the team is planning to be at the Hospital at 7:30 am sharp to begin the day’s schedule.