April Mission
- Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH) – Freetown
- Kabala Government Hospital – Kabala Town
In April 2017, Saving Lives Initiatives (SLI) facilitated a return trip to Sierra Leone to conduct surgeries at the Kabala Government Hospital in Kabala Town and the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH) in Freetown. During this mission where 70 surgeries were successfully conducted within seven operating days. The volunteer team of 15 medical personnel was headed by surgeons Dr. Frank Collins and Dr. Nadim Hawa (OB/GYN). The medical mission was conducted between the period of March 21st through April 4th, 2017. The mission was divided into two phases, the first phase was a session at the PCMH and the Anesthesia Training School in Freetown and conducted within the first three (3) days of the mission from March 23rd through March 25th. The team then undertook the 5-hour journey to the town of Kabala on March 26th to start the second phase.
The second phase at the Kabala Government Hospital was conducted from March 27th through March 31st. During the first phase, a team led by Dr. Nadim Hawa successfully conducted five surgeries through laparoscopic surgery, which is a first in Sierra Leone. It was also during this phase that the semi-annual anesthesia training in collaboration with the Anesthesia Training School was introduced for local anesthetics as a means of providing them with continuous education training and professional development. The two-day refresher training was attended by 11 local anesthetists. SLI provided a stipend for transportation and lunch for all training participants throughout the training sessions. During the second phase at the Kabala Government Hospital, two laparoscopic surgeries were conducted, adding to the 65 surgeries within the five operating days. These 65 surgeries were conducted in collaboration with the local surgical team and varied in complexity, involving three (3) emergency surgeries. The 81 patients ranged in age from 6 to 70 years of age, with the majority of the patients between the ages of 25-60 years old. The bulk of the surgeries were general surgery because the Kabala Hospital does not have the necessary equipment and support mechanisms to support other surgical procedures.
The patients were given vital surgical care, including but not limited to exploratory laparotomy, hernia repairs, hydrocelectomies, closed and open reduction internal fixations, and subtotal thyroidectomies. During the entire mission, sustainability was promoted by active collaboration between the volunteers and local medical professionals from the triage process to surgery and recovery. The training component involves the continuous knowledge-sharing process between the volunteer medical professionals and the local surgical team at the Hospital in various critical care techniques, pain management, and accessible post-operative care techniques. All the surgical and training services rendered during the mission were at no cost to the patients and trainees and were a pleasant and rewarding experience for all our volunteers and trainees.
October Mission
- Kenema Government Hospital Kenema City
From October 22nd through November 3rd, 2017, the volunteers of SLI embarked on a mission to the Kenema Government Hospital in the city of Kenema in Sierra Leone in fulfillment of the organization’s commitment to supplement the surgical needs of underserved communities. The city of Kenema is approximately 320 km from Freetown and is the district headquarters town of Kenema District. The population of the district is xxxx, of which approximately 200,000 is the population of the city of Kenema. The Kenema Government Hospital is the major referral hospital for the whole district and is staffed by only three general practitioners. The surgical needs of the people of this district are 97% unmet. During this mission, 75 surgeries were successfully conducted within five operating days on patients ranging in age from 3 years to 62 years. The volunteer team of 18 medical personnel was headed by surgeon Dr. Karl Riggle. The bulk of the surgeries were general surgery. The patients were given vital surgical care, including but not limited to exploratory laparotomy, hernia repairs, hydrocelectomies, closed and open reduction internal fixations, and subtotal thyroidectomies.
During the entire mission, sustainability was promoted by active collaboration between the volunteers and local medical professionals from the triage process through surgery and recovery. The training component involved the continuous knowledge-sharing process between the volunteer medical professionals and the local surgical team at the Hospital in various critical care techniques, pain management, and accessible post-operative care techniques. It was also during this mission that a 32-hour classroom training in First Aid/CPR and Basic Life Support (BLS) techniques was initiated, where 46 medical professionals were trained, with 13 trained as trainers. All the surgical and training services rendered during the mission were at no cost to the patients and trainees and were a pleasant and rewarding experience for all our volunteers and trainees.