Jane Halsey, PeaceHealth System Office
Working Together
We were a willing group of workers. Several individuals had been on prior Eye Missions. Lori and John Millin (scrub tech and ophthalmologist) had been on a number of missions around the world, as had Lydia Pan (optometrist). Of course, Kathy Garcia, the PazSalud Mission Manager, was a brigade veteran. The rest of us were rookies to this type of service. But it was clear from the very beginning that everything was beautifully orchestrated. The behind-the-scenes prep work was amazing. Besides finding patients and arranging for a facility to conduct the work, all the equipment and supplies were obtained and taken to El Salvador--- a huge part of Kathy's pre-brigade work.
The Hospital Saldana staff greeted us warmly
and was ready and anxious to help anyway they could. Dr. Del Cid,
anesthesiologist and head of Hospital Saldana, a Salvadorian Government
facility, was engaged and helpful the entire week. He interacted with the
patients and shared their joy as they came and went; he worked to solve every
snag we encountered, from electrical and housekeeping issues, to filling surgery
slots on the schedule when patients canceled. Local Health Promoters were also
an integral part of the team. They were the liaison in the community and saw to
it that patients got to and from the hospital.
Hospital Saldana is set on beautiful grounds
high on a hill in Panchimalco---a town about 20 minutes from San Salvador. The
hospital had recently been converted from a TB facility to a general hospital,
however, it was clear from an old boarded-up building that cholera patients had
also received care there in the hospital's past. The Sala de Operacions was in a
separate building from the main hospital and it's where we spent our work-week.
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On Sunday the Team unpacked supplies and set up the operating room suite so that the two surgeons could operate concurrently. In the pre-op/prep area, Lydia, the team optometrist set up her eye examination equipment and myriad pairs of reading and sunglasses. Shawn quickly became Lydia's assistant---a role he filled with aplomb the entire week.
Becky and Kathy worked to get the autoclave and instruments ready to go---as well as setting up the area where pre-op eye drops and post-op nursing care would be administered.
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Each morning after we were taken to the
hospital, our bus driver along with the health promoters picked up our surgical
patients for the day. After changing into our scrubs, and passing through the
doors to the surgery suites, our first task of the day, after Monday, was to
examine the post-op patients from the day before. They were brought to us from
the hospital building nearby where a night nurse had been engaged by PazSalud to
care for them overnight. When the new patients arrived, Srs. Eleanor and Susan,
checked them, and did their vital signs before sending them to get an IV line
inserted. As they came to us, Nilda Taylor, our interpreter greeted each person
and explained the various aspects of their care.
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After eye dilatation, each patient was examined to determine which eye to operate on. A black "X" was made on the forehead above the eye from which the cataract would be removed. In the case of a woman with just one eye, it was determined that she did not have a cataract but could possibly be helped by refraction and glasses. Sr. Eleanor arranged for her to see a local ophthalmologist and we all hoped and prayed that she could regain some sight in her remaining eye.
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Lori and John routinely work together. Mitch and Bruce were a new team---and Mitch's regular job was not scrubbing for ophthalmologic cases. Cooperation and a tremendous willingness to teach and learn got everyone and everything running smoothly in short order.
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