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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Management of right ventricular outflow tract reactivity following pulmonary valve dilatation under general anesthesia: experience of a medical mission.

During a recent volunteer medical mission to the Dominican Republic, we administered anesthesia to a child with severe pulmonary valvular stenosis and suprasystemic right ventricular pressure. This patient underwent a balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty but then developed worsening right ventricular outflow tract obstruction that required immediate therapy to prevent a low cardiac output state. As the development of hyperdynamic right ventricular outflow tract obstruction cannot be predicted, we emphasize the need for preemptive hydration and beta-blockade therapy prior to balloon dilatation.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Healing the Children: medical missions.

In 1993, I started documenting medical missions organised by the American-based, non-profit organisation Healing the Children (HTC). With 14 chapters in 21 states, HTC has helped tens of thousands of children worldwide since it was founded in 1979. The organisation arranges specialised medical treatment and surgical care for children whose families cannot afford it or whose communities do not offer it. HTC relies entirely on volunteers. In 1995, the northeast chapter of HTC alone provided more than $7.5 million in services to about 2300 children. HTC also provides treatment and assistance to disadvantaged children in US communities, arranges special care in the USA for children from nearly 60 countries, and recruits organisations to provide supplies and refurbished equipment to hospitals in underdeveloped countries. In October, 1994, I travelled with an HTC team of over 50 medical personnel on a cardiac trip to Guatemala City. More recently, in April, 1996, I documented a team of 11 who travelled to Cochahamba, Bolivia, to carry out soft tissue surgery.

Bolivia↗
PubMed2000

A personal account of a medical mission.

The author participated in a medical mission to the Philippines while he was a student in a family nurse practitioner program. This first person account of his two weeks in the Philippines details his impressions of the country, experiences with poverty, and the challenges of working with limited resources.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1991

Pioneer medical missions in colonial Africa.

Protestant and Roman Catholic missions pioneered Western medicine and public health in much of Africa decades in advance of health services provided by colonial governments. A century later church-based hospitals and health care programs continue to account for 25% to 50% of available services in most African countries. In view of the important historical and continuing role of medical missions it is remarkable that there have been no systematic scholarly studies of the impacts of these pioneer institutions on the geography of health and social change in colonial Africa. How, for example, was the health of African populations and the areas they inhabited changed by the activities of medical missions? And how did Africans respond to Western medicine and its alien institutional social and technological structures and relations? This paper develops the historical context and conceptual framework for investigating such topics. It presents a detailed research agenda organized around nine themes, each of which suggests a series of interrelated questions. The methodology employs the techniques of medical and historical geography, and is based on comparative, longitudinal case-studies of medical missions at the local level coupled with archival study.

Africa↗
PubMed2004

Humanitarian military medical mission in a postconflict environment: lessons from Cambodia.

In the aftermath of a genocidal civil war, the Government of Cambodia is left with major deficiencies in its healthcare system. This article recounts a military medical mission to Cambodia; the authors describe the objectives of the mission and provide a summary of the lessons learned. Specific areas of concern include healthcare infrastructure, logistics, standards of care, social traditions, organizational issues and potential problems in civil-military collaboration. This report is offered as a heuristic device to illuminate some of the issues that can mediate the success of military medical missions in postconflict environments.

Altruism↗
PubMed2006

Acute respiratory tract infections among Hajj medical mission personnel, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) among 250 personnel serving in a Hajj medical mission, Al-Hada and Taif Armed Forces Hospitals, during the 2005 season and to determine the effectiveness of protective measures, including influenza vaccination, for these infections. METHODS: This was a nested case-control study. A questionnaire was distributed to the study cohort two weeks after the Hajj period and was self-administered by all recruited subjects. In addition, the medical records of study subjects were reviewed at Al-Hada Hospital for the same period in order to document ARI. RESULTS: The attack rate for ARI among study subjects during Hajj season or within two weeks of returning was 25.6% (64/250). Logistic regression analysis of factors related to acquiring ARI revealed that contact with pilgrims imposed an extremely high risk of infection (adjusted OR 13.2, 95% CI 1.5-117.6). Moreover, non-use of alcohol-based hand disinfection carried a more than 8-fold risk of acquiring ARI compared to those who always used alcohol for hand disinfection (adjusted OR 8.4, 95% CI 2.2-32.2). Smoking was also a predictor of ARI in our cohort and influenza vaccination was associated with a 30% reduction in ARI compared to unvaccinated subjects, although this finding was not statistically significant. Unexpectedly, the logistic regression model showed that Saudi nationals were three times more likely to acquire ARI than non-Saudis (adjusted OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.2-8.4). CONCLUSIONS: The common practice among pilgrims and medical personnel of using surgical facemasks to protect themselves against ARI should be discontinued and regular use of alcohol-based hand scrubs should be more vigorously encouraged. Further research is needed to evaluate the protective value of N95 facemasks against ARI during the Hajj period.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2004

The medical mission in NATO operations.

Medical support during crisis response operations should follow state-of-the-art standards of medicine, but at the same time to take into account more difficult conditions for medical care providing. The results of treatment of patients during crisis response operations should lead to results as close as possible to peacetime treatment. Multinationality has been working well in the Sipovo Multinational Integrated Medical Unit (MIMU) in Bosnia and Herzegovina until now. The mutual co-operation of nations results in a reduction in terms of personnel and material for all participants. It allows efficient use of resources and could be a model for Role 3 care in other hospitals. It has proven to be greater than the sum of its parts. The MIMU concept can be considered a cornerstone that guarantees the required continuity and stability.

Hospitals, Military↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Aborted air medical missions: a 4-year quality review of a Canadian province-wide air medical program.

INTRODUCTION: EHS LifeFlight, the air medical transport program for the province of Nova Scotia, is a rotor-wing program with fixed-wing backup. It flies more than 600 missions per year, but a varying, significant number of other requested missions are aborted. The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons for these cancellations and related pertinent descriptive data and evaluate the potential implications for patient care and quality service. METHODS: This study is a descriptive, retrospective review of all aborted missions between July 1, 1997, and June 30, 2001. Data source was the EHS LifeFlight computer patient care record database. RESULTS: A total of 2723 air medical requests were received during the study period. Of these, 1846 were completed flight missions (68%) and 876 were aborted missions (32%). Reasons for aborted missions included weather (30%), aircraft not required/not appropriate (27%), aborted by medical control physician (15%), aircraft out on another mission (11%), aircraft down for maintenance (9%), patient died before aircraft arrival (5%), no suitable landing zone (2%), and other (1%). CONCLUSIONS: A significant percentage of requested missions are aborted in this program. Reasons vary, but 20% of missions canceled could have been performed with the availability of a second dedicated aircraft. Overall, weather is the number 1 reason for aborting a mission.

Air Ambulances↗