Dr. DRE and associates

    So. I’m about to head back to Bolvia (Santa Rosa del Sara, to be exact) in 10 days. I’ve been participating on surgical/ medical/ dental missions projects with Medical Ministry International (www.mmint.org) since 1997 as a premedical student. On most of these projects, volunteer Anesthesiologists/ Anesthetists manage to make-do with meager anesthesia equipment. In Bolivia, this has involved a very old anesthesia “machine” which actually consists of parts from different anesthesia machines transported in an Igloo cooler and held together by electrical tape/ duct tape and a certain amount of rust. It leaks – so bad that the patients aren’t fully asleep (and the surgeons aren’t fully awake).

Old Machine – trust me, it leaks.

      One of our participants (Jon Klatt, MD – Anesthesiologist at Holy Family Memorial in Manitowoc, WI) from our previous project (Colonia Japonesa de San Juan – January 2012) worked with this machine and felt moved to spearhead an effort to get a new anesthesia machine for our work in Bolivia. Jon hopes to return for future projects as do some of his colleagues at HFM. In fact, Jean Reindl, CRNA is coming along with me this time for her first surgical missions experience. I am so excited for her and thankful for her generous donation of her time and willingess to take on such an adventure.

     The machine costs about $10,600. Manufactured by a company called DRE, it is a bare-bones, durable, portable machine perfectly fit for the conditions in Bolivia – MMI does about one project a month in different towns/ cities accross the country – the machine goes with them. With the project coming so soon, Jon and his colleagues went ahead and obtained the machine so Jean could use it on this project. They purchased it on faith that we will be able to raise the funds to cover its cost – I am truly humbled by their generosity and enthusiasm for surgical missions in general and the people of Bolivia in particular. Judging by the age of the current setup, this machine is likely to see 30-40 years of use down there.

“Dr. DRE” – tough, efficient, no leaks

      In an exciting development, the Medical Staff at Holy Family Memorial, in a unanimous decision, voted to provide matching funds up to $5000 for the machine! That means any donations routed through HFM Fund Development for this machine are doubled, and they remain tax deductable! How do I give, you ask? You can send a check to:

HFM Fund Development
2300 Western Ave
Manitowoc, WI 54220

Put a note with the check that states “restricted funds for anesthesia machine”

     Any excess funds raised will stay in the fund and will go towards things like supply purchases or to create scholarships for Nurses and Surgical Techs wishing to go on a mission project. We’d greatly appreciate your assistance (any small amount helps) in helping to send the DRE machine (I think I’ll call it Dr. DRE) to Bolivia with us. I’ll send updates during the trip as often as the Santa Rosa internet access allows.