CREATIVE STORAGE AND RECYCLING SOLUTIONS ON AN INTERNATIONAL SCALE
It’s a strange thing, measuring hope. But FH Canada’s International Medical
Equipment Distribution (IMED) team does it up to 20 times a year, and has been
doing so since 2002.
Rapid advances in medical
technology mean that perfectly functional equipment is constantly being
replaced in Canadian hospitals. Most of this equipment is out of reach for
clinics and staff in developing communities.
That’s where the IMED program comes in. They work with Canadian health professionals to keep newly-replaced equipment from early retirement at a costly storage facility.
The equipment is donated to FH and kept at
IMED’s Saskatoon
warehouse, where it’s refurbished and matched with requests for equipment from
around the world.
Dr. Bosco of Gisuru Hospital
in East Burundi recently contacted IMED with
his medical wish list. Dr. Bosco is one of only two doctors and eight nurses at
the 50-bed facility that serves an area of over 200,000 people. He sees about
90 people a day, often two to a bed.
The bed shortage isn’t his
only frustration. He often has to turn away patients he can’t diagnose or treat
without a crucial piece of equipment, either basic or complex.
“Stuff we’d be shocked to see missing from
the doctor’s office—” begins Ron Morey, the biomedical technician who’s refurbishing
Dr. Bosco’s pieces, “that’s the stuff they’re desperate for.”
As the 40-foot Gisuru Hospital container is
packed with beds, operating tables, surgical equipment and incubators, IMED staff
and volunteers can’t help but think of another baby in Burundi , in
Buye region, where the country’s last container request came from. An incubator
they sent was the first for the hospital, and only days after it arrived, a
baby was born premature and survived to go home with her grateful mother.
Before the incubator, preemies rarely
survived.
IMED director Lindsay Brucks says neo-natal
equipment is one of his favourite things to ship. He explains his preference as
he ensures an almost-new ultrasound bound for Nebaj , Guatemala
is secure in its protective crate.
“In the developing
world it’s a lot about family – a lot about children – so the ultrasounds make
a huge impact on the lives of the women and the safety of the children when
they’re born. It’s a piece of equipment that makes a difference every day.”
The Guatemala
container they’re packing is somewhat of a special order. Usually a container
supplies one or two hospitals in a region, but this time IMED has been asked by
the district health authority to supply specialized equipment for one large
hospital, other equipment for two smaller ones, and medical supplies for 30
clinics in the surrounding villages.
Containers are always packed tightly, but
this one especially has every square inch filled with wheelchairs, heart
monitors, examination beds, computer systems, physiotherapy equipment, and
surgical suction machines; with linens, gauze, scrubs and operating utensils
filling the gaps.
The Nebaj shipment is one
of usually seven to nine a year that go to communities already walking with FH
Canada in a longer-term sustainable development partnership.
Lindsay has frequently
visited these fields, and frequently sees the value of providing tools to
people who have the skills to use them.
“It really impacts the
nurses and the doctors,” he says. “It brings them hope as they serve the people
and the passion that they have.”
By empowering health
professionals in their own communities and providing resources that are
otherwise inaccessible, the IMED team is delivering hope and literally saving
lives.
One 40-foot container at
a time.