Erdi NewsUpdate July 2018

Dear Friends,

It has taken a long time for me to write you an update.

The Clinic.

I am working in the clinic, attending to patients as well as doing a lot of bedside teaching. Most nurses are qualified nurses, but the quality of the training is not up to the standard, as I would like it. Also some have forgotten things. Therefore a lot of teaching needs to be done: now with a every Friday quiz – having some fun as well.

As I have noticed a big need for proper (basic) orthopedic care, I have started to provide, even though our equipment is far from what is required to do a good job. But even without better equipment, we can provide some treatment better then the herbalists. Most other hospitals do not do any orthopedics, only refer to Emergency Hospital in Freetown (good Italian run hospital, but now unable to cater for the whole country, so almost always full, so often they can not accept new patients).

One of my patients is Isatu. On the 27th of January she was involved in a car accident: she was a passenger and the car drove into a tree. When she came she was in severe pain around her waist, so much that she did not even complain about her arm that was broken too.

As we do not have X-ray and clinically i could not assess the problem well enough. We contacted the Government Hospital in Makeni, were we could come for X-ray, despite the late hour. We put Isatu in the back of the pick-up of dr ABD and went to the government hospital. This is not far, but part of it is over bumpy dirt roads – very painful, despite the pain medication we gave her.

Her left hip was broken in the pelvis (acetabulum fracture) and the right hip was broken in the upper part of the upper leg (pertrochanter fracture). These are severe fractures.

 

The day she was released from the traction, she was sitting outside, but her face told me she was not happy. She was sad, as she disappointed her relatives, as she did not walk immediately. I explained (again) to her: those are wrong expectations, it will go slowly.

Soon she had her optimism back and started practicing.

Today during ward rounds she danced for me:

See video (below the video more to read)

play-sharp-fill
Website

 

The website of Smarter Hospital has been renewed, with updated information!

The last updates on teach-the-teacher project are really positive!

www.smarter-hospital.nl

 

City Garden Clinic now has its own website, with much information about the clinic: the history, the staff, news updates, and much more.

Also two projects are on the website: the VIA – cervical cancer screening and the uniform project. More projects will follow, so keep checking the website!

www.citygardenclinic.com

 

Mr Rudi joins the Nijmeegse 4-daagse again

Like every year Mr Rudi is joining the Nijmeegse 4 daagse (four days of walking). He is training very well.

You can sponsor him (actually you sponsor the VIA project – cervical cancer screening) via https://www.devierdaagsesponsorloop.nl/wandelaars/ruurd-van-rooijen/156b7630-99c3-49b3-9f03-3d5b51947c7b

I hope to keep you updated a bit more frequently, but now you can also always check the website (where I will regularly post news updates).

Greetings from Makeni,
Erdi Huizenga