Feeling Full

Saturday, July 17, 2010

We have just completed our first project site at Tobelo, Indonesia.  We spent 5 days here.  The MEDCAPS and SURGCAPS go out into the surrounding communities and screen those who come for care.  We have seen and treated almost 6000 patients in Indonesia so far.  Not bad for 5 days!  Patients who can benefit from the services we have onboard are then brought onto the ship.  At this site, we've performed  50 +  surgeries.  We are using 4 of the patient wards here on the ship plus the ICU for patient care.  The patients come on board, get checked with a thermal scan for fever, then get a chest x-ray to look for signs of tuberculosis.  If the x-ray is indicative, they are then sent for a CT scan.  Unfortunately, if they do have TB, they leave the ship immediately.  Each patient comes with a friend or family member as an escort.  If either one of them has TB, they both must leave the ship.  If the patient is clear, however, they can come back the next day with another escort and try again.  We've had a very high rate of TB and it is disheartening to turn them away.  We do give them the medical report and a letter to take to a place where they can receive treatment for the TB.

Once that process is finished, they get checked through CASREC (casualty receiving) where they get treated for lice, if necessary, have labwork done and get sent to the proper medical ward.  The escort they bring stays with them the whole time, until they leave the ship.  I work in discharge planning.  We coordinate the boat they ride back to the pier, make sure they understand their medications, how to care for their wounds, and when to seek medical treatment.  We also make sure they have a way to get home from the pier and arrange any help they need to get home.  Then, we instruct them on what to do if they get seasick and escort them to the pier and beyond.

We discharged the last of our Tobelo patients today as we are pulling out of this area today.  As I rode the "Bandaid" boat to shore with a group of patients, one mother told me, through an interpreter, about her care on the Mercy.  She told about how good the care was and how friendly and kind everyone was to her and her daughter.  She loved the food and said the sleep was good.  Then she said, "All of the doctors and nurses were so kind and cared for us so well, I feel full without food."  ........ me too.

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