Upcoming trip March 2016

We are preparing for our trip in March: getting supplies, and thinking about what we need to bring that we didn't have on the last trip. It has been almost a year since I have been in Monrovia, and I am looking forward to this return trip. I had planned to go with Dr. Jonathan Laryea in September, but I developed some personal health issues which precluded me from making the trip. Jonathan went by himself, and by all reports had an excellent and productive time. This trip will be Santiago Arruffat and myself for the surgical team; also traveling to Monrovia at this time will be Dr. Sirleaf and one or two other medical doctors. Our goal on this trip is to do some operating and teaching, but also to assess the situation to determine whether it will be safe and appropriate to resume bringing residents and others in the fall. Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea have all been declared Ebola-free by WHO, but everyone recognizes that the disease has not been eradicated, and it is likely that there will be sporadic cases popping up from time to time. My understanding is that all patients being admitted to JFK Hospital are triaged for Ebola symptoms, and that all surgery is being done with full Ebola precautions. It is unclear if this is the new reality which will stay in place forever, or if at some point they will be able to return to a more normal OR atmosphere. Obviously we and everyone else needs to take whatever precautions are necessary to insure the safety of everyone involved to the extent that is possible. On a related note, we recently had Dr. Philip Ireland speaking at Waterbury Hospital. He is an ER physician at JFK Hospital, and an Ebola survivor; through a program we have started at HEARTT, he is at Yale in New Haven for a month observing in the Emergency Room. I met him a few years ago in Monrovia, so he didn't hesitate when I invited him to Waterbury to speak; the title of his talk was "To Hell and Back in 21 days", and it was very well received by a large audience. When he came down with Ebola, there was no room in any of the Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) so he stayed at home. He had his wife and 4 children move elsewhere so they wouldn't be at risk, but his mother refused to leave, electing instead to stay to nurse him. She did not have access to Personal Protective Equipment (the Hazmat suits) so she wore her raincoat, her boots, and wrapped her hands with plastic shopping bags as protection. She did not catch Ebola! I have told him that I would like to meet her when we are there in March ! Finally, I would like to give a shout out to Mr. Joey Glass, a service representative at Summit Medical Specialties in Jacksonville FL. In Liberia, there are many patients who need skin grafts because of burns and tropical ulcers. We use a dermatome, which is essentially a powered skin shaver, to take very thin pieces of skin from one part of the body and place it on the affected area. Before each trip I am asked to bring dermatome blades, which I have often been able to buy on eBay. About a month ago, Dr. Gbozee, a surgical resident at JFK who is destined for greatness, informed me that they had lost one of the screws on the dermatome which holds the blade in place, and they wondered if I could bring a new one. I spoke to Italo in our Central Supply department; he looked all over including going to Home Depot and Lowe's looking for a replacement screw but couldn't find one. I looked online, and emailed one place asking but I never received a reply. Last week I decided to try one more time, and I found Summit Medical Specialties on a Google search for dermatome repair outfits. I wrote them explaining what I needed to buy, and why it was important to have a working dermatome at JFK; that afternoon I reviewed an email back from Mr. Glass telling me that he wanted to donate 4 screws, and he would put them in the mail immediately. His heartfelt gesture of generosity made my day; in my note thanking him, I pointed out that having the opportunity to come into contact with people like him is one of the greatest joys of doing this work. We leave on March 5. As usual, I will be posting a daily blog whenever possible.