Saving Lives One Image at a Time

Doctors need good information in a timely fashion to make decisions.  In obstetrics, general surgery, and critical care, even minutes can make a difference in determining whether a life is saved or not.  The availability of bedside ultrasound for rapid assessment in critical areas such as the ICU, emergency departments and labor & delivery units has become more of the norm now than the exception.  Obstetricians certainly rely more on ultrasound than on a stethoscope!

Over the past year over 150 people contributed toward this beautiful, brand new, Sonosite M-Turbo ultrasound machine with two probes.  One probe is for doing obstetric and abdominal ultrasounds, and the other probe is a critical care cardiac probe which allows bedside cardiac, arterial and venous assessments.

Finally, after the efforts and generosity of so many people, this ultrasound has found a home in the ICU at Mbingo Baptist Hospital in Cameroon, West Africa.  Here is has easy rapid access to the doctors working in the ICU, surgery and obstetric wards and is available 24 hours a day!

As of a few weeks ago, the ultrasound was 88% funded, and I will receive an update on June 1st to find out if it is fully funded.  [Based on the initial response of so many donors, we proceeded with the purchase even though all of the funding had not come in.]  The ultrasound itself is the size of a laptop computer, and I brought it on the plane to Cameroon as my carry-on.

Truly this ultrasound will aid physicians here to make better and quicker decisions, and it is appropriate to claim that lives will be saved "one image at a time."

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen.  You have made a difference in the world!

If anyone would like to still make a contribution toward this project, or towards the work that I do with Samaritan's Purse in developing countries, you can do so at the link below this paragraph (you may need to copy and paste it) and then scroll down to FIND DR./MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL and type my name "SAWYER, ALLAN" in the box.  All funds are placed in my ministry account and will be used for supporting my work in mission hospitals around the world through Samaritan's Purse.  Thank you.  Bless you! You have made a difference in the world!

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/medical/wmm-doctors/

Thank You is the only Payment Accepted

Who would have thought that a computer network engineer, a wound care nurse practitioner, an infectious disease physician, a cardiac anesthesiologist, and a obstetrician/gynecologist could be such a great combination to bring to a mission hospital?!

Last year I invited (or challenged) these friends to come with me to Mbingo Baptist Hospital to experience Africa from a new vantage point and to give freely of their time and talents to the work at the hospital.  Their respective skills were all very important at the hospital.

We were very grateful to have a cardiac anesthesiologist here to teach the nurse anesthetists how to care for their patients.  In this particular case, his involvement and expertise were especially appreciated by everyone.

Each team member not only utilized their skills and knowledge, but also took the time to teach others.  Here the internal medicine residents are listening to our infectious disease physician giving a lecture; however, she also attended their conferences and attended patient ward rounds to discuss the infections that they saw.

Mbingo Baptist Hospital is also the referral center for the entire country of Cameroon for care of chronic wounds, leprosy wound care, and rehabilitation from amputations.  The wound care department is extremely busy, and our wound care nurse practitioner helped to educate on new techniques, and also helped to relieve the workload.

The hospital is also nearly ready to open a new building which will hold the entire outpatient department.  It is also nearly ready to implement a computerized medical record system.  With these two tasks on their agenda, the timing of bringing a computer network expert was incredibly helpful.  Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, he will be able to continue to assist remotely as the hospital moves forward.

Personally it has been great to have these friends with me here on this trip.  Not only have they been great to have here from a professional standpoint, they have been a lot of fun as we have explored the mountains around the hospital and have spent many hours together at meals and in the evenings.

[Their names have been purposefully omitted out of a security concern.]