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Practical Solutions: OB/GYN Advancements A
solution that seems so obvious to us can still be a challenge
Hopeless without power -- Hospital Electrical Upgrade  In
early March of last year, the CAMO medical brigade witnessed firsthand
what ensues when well-intentioned measures result in disaster. On an otherwise
calm Tuesday afternoon, the US surgical team was in the operating room
with Dr. Crowley and the Orthopedic surgery team was consulting with patients.
Our anesthesiologist was running triage between the OR, the men’s surgery
ward, where he was monitoring a critical patient on a CAMO-provided ventilator,
and the pediatric ward, where the pediatrician was cleaning the wounds
of a young burn patient. Without warning, the lights went out in
the hospital. This is a nearly daily occurrence at the hospital,
and the doctors and nurses barely miss a beat when this happens. But this
time it was more than just a typical outage.  The
backup generator for the OR failed to turn on, and soon the smell of smoke
filled the air. An electrical surge had hit the hospital when the
110v and 220v lines were inadvertently crossed during a routine maintenance
procedure at the power plant in town. The lack of appropriate breakers
and surge protectors allowed the 220 volts to run through the hundreds
of pieces of equipment in use at the hospital, putting the lives of many
patients at risk. Dr. Crowley emerged from the OR, concerned that his cauterie
machine was smoking in the middle of surgery. The pediatrician was unable
to complete his procedure on the burn victim, with no light to guide him
and no morphine to dull the pain. And most of all, the critically
ill patient on the ventilator was left gasping for air after the ventilator
caught on fire in the men’s ward. Immediately, air was hand-pumped into
his lungs until CAMO personnel were able to push a small generator up the
hill from the warehouse and connect a replacement ventilator for the patient.
CAMO staff stood guard by the generator all night long, refilling the small
gas tank every three hours so the man could continue to breathe.
Fortunately, CAMO’s biomedical engineers were in Honduras at the time and
were able to repair and replace most of the equipment that was damaged.
The young man on the respirator was not as lucky – he died a few days later
after a second surge hit the ventilator again and the nurses were unable
to stabilize his condition. Please, help us to fix the hospital’s
electrical system. Our first request for funds resulted in over $12,000
in donations for this project that will cost $245,000. We thank each Option
without electric
of you for your dedication to CAMO. We urgently need your continued assistance.
Outsider gives evaluation -- Prosthetic Lab steadily improving We would always hope that our programs are first-rate, but at times we do not know how well we function in comparison to the other programs and projects that exist. We were fortunate to have Henry, a Prosthetic/Orthotic professional who was placed in Honduras for one year, to evaluate the three prosthetic labs in Honduras. We were the last lab Henry visited, and he spent two months with our program. At the end of his visit, we asked him his impressions of our prosthetic program. He sat back and smiled, then responded, “ I have made three observations about your program:
As I listened, I wondered when the “but” was going to come. It never did. So I bravely asked, “Does that make us the best?” Henry responded, “It certainly does!” CAMO sends a very special thank you to Mark Gorman and his six years of commitment to developing the lab in Honduras. Mark has helped with the supervision and consultation of this program, and it is due to his efforts that we have this quality program here in Honduras. Thanks Mark, for making us “the best.”
 Slowly
but Surely: CPR
CAMO’s programs in Honduras is the Honduras National Committee for Coronary Pulmonary Resuscitation. Through this program CAMO certifies local healthcare professionals and other caregivers in CPR. The American Heart Association will formally recognize our program in a conference to be held this December in Panama. In October, three CPR instructors traveled with us to Santa Rosa to train more local caregivers. We had a great group of attendees for the CPR classes. They came from different walks of life and different cities – from high school students, to soldiers, to student nurses, to service groups such as the local Red Cross, to paramedics. Over 115 people were instructed according to the guidelines set forth by the AHA under our national registry. From that group of 115 people, we were able to continue training 12 who went on to become local instructors. They can now continue to train others year-round in these vital skills! We look forward to the growth of this educational program, and we were very blessed to have Darcy Cicconetti, Deborah Biss and Gary Greathouse join this process. A special thanks to Kelsey Wright and Jack Weeman for helping with the translation. Good work, CPR team!
Total Value of Programs and Services - October 2004 Teams Our October Volunteer teams generated over $100,000 worth of programming,
training and equipment.
Facility in Honduras Celebrates One Year In 1993 CAMO USA operated from a living room. Then in 1995  we
moved to a rat-infested warehouse, in 1997 to a barn, and finally, in 1999,
into our own building in the USA. The same process happened in Honduras,
starting from a living room in 1995, on to a 48-foot trailer in 1997, then
to a rat-infested basement of the public Hospital in 1999. Finally in 2003,
we moved into our current facility in Honduras. What an amazing journey
we have had. With the growth, we are always in need of professionals to
help us stay organized and focused. With over two million dollars of random
medical equipment and supplies coming through our doors, chaos can ensure
rapidly! We are fortunate to have Titus Yoder as one of our volunteers.
He brings his expertise not only as the owner of a medical supply business,
but also as a former respiratory technologist. Tony Drew also joined the
team this year to evaluate the inventory system in the US and in Honduras
to see how we might make it a better system. At this time, four of
our programs are in bins so that each item can be rapidly located and more
improvements are in the works. These are life saving improvements when
time is precious. Thanks, guys!
Cutting Costs: Technology and Communication We are always looking at better ways to keep our costs down, but international communications are costly. Luckily, CAMO-Honduras was one of the first organizations to have cable Internet installed and we are being used to test the system in Santa Rosa. Today, instead of 63 cents a minute to talk over the phone, we are able to communicate at very little cost via the Internet. We also have had cameras so that we can speak and see each other at the same time. This is vital when you’re speaking in another language. When we communicate, our expressions sometimes say more than our words. We are very lucky to have Dave Moser and McClintock Electric helping
us at every phase of this transition. The dedication of Dave Moser was
incredible; we had many issues with our network and installation of the
cable, but thanks to Dave things are now working well. Thank you so much!
Goal Exceeded: 6,500 toothbrushes donated! CAMO sends a special thank you to Salem Mennonite Church (Ohio) for accepting our challenge of collecting 6,000 toothbrushes for the children’s dental program. Our dental program has grown so quickly, CAMO was having trouble providing a toothbrush and toothpaste for each patient the dentists see! Word went out that 6,000 toothbrushes were needed, and Salem Mennonite Church not only accepted the challenge, but exceeded our goal! Last month, over 6,500 toothbrushes were delivered to the CAMO warehouse in Orrville, Ohio. Thank you to this congregation for your untiring support of CAMO’s work – we are stronger because of your assistance!
Upcoming Events: December 11th – CAMO Board Meeting December 12th – Presentation to Orrville UCC congregation December 15th – Load trailer for Honduras December 31st – Last day to designate year-end donations to CAMO January 15th – Trailer departs for Honduras January 20th- Wooster Trinity UCC Church Presentation February 2-May 2 - Executive Director to Honduras February 5th – Estimated Initiation of Electrical Upgrade Project in Honduras February 27-March 13 – Volunteer Teams to Honduras Alternative Christmas Ideas Christmas Auction: For the past two Christmas seasons, in lieu of a family gift exchange, the Harold and June Steiner family of Orrville, has held a Christmas gift auction and donated the proceeds to CAMO. This has been a fun way to celebrate Christmas while at the same time helping to provide medical care for less fortunate families. Here’s how it works: Each family member brings whatever items they would like to contribute to the auction. The items remain unwrapped and have included handmade crafts, baked goods and sweets, books and music, bath and household essentials, office goods and stationary, games and much more. Bidder numbers are issued and an auctioneer and clerk are chosen to conduct the auction. Each participant is free to bid as much as they want (in real dollars) on as many items as they wish. After the auction, each bidder’s total is totaled and collected and everyone gets to take home the gifts they had a part in choosing for themselves. If you would like to add a new twist to your holiday gift-giving routine and also contribute to a worthy cause, the Steiner family encourages you to give it a try! Christmas Gift Cards: CAMO can provide Christmas Donation Cards to anyone who is interested in giving a donation to our organization in the name of a family member or friend this holiday season. These cards are another way to serve the great need in the world and at the same time honor your friends and family. Please contact the CAMO office at (330) 683-5958 and we’ll send you as many cards as you need. Improving existing Stoves
Working hard to Serve We are not unlike other non-profit organizations. We have seen a decrease in our donations during the last 2 years. At the same time we have been asked to do more. We are touching over 80,000 lives per year - the list below shows the statistics of our programs from January 1 – Oct 31 2004. We continue to need your support. Our programs are doing great, but often time donators want to give to a specific program and forget that we, like all organizations need to pay workers comp, lights, communication, energy cost and federal, state and local taxes etc. I am often concerned about how to keep it all going. You need the horse to pull the cart. Please keep this in mind as all of us struggle to keep thing going in 2005.
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when
resources are scarce. One such situation CAMO has struggled to address
is the incidence of cervical cancer in Honduran women. It is the
leading cause of death among women in the country. In October, CAMO,
armed with two OB/GYN physicians and new equipment, set out to actively
address the problem. The very first case we had during our training program
and integration of the colposcopy and cryo units was a woman with a huge
cervical mass. She was 31 years old and had 5 children. After seeing
CAMO’s doctors, she was scheduled for surgery, and the tumor was removed
the next day. Why aren’t the local doctors addressing this problem? There
are 14 OB/GYNs in the western region of Honduras. But none of these
doctors in their private or public practice had a colposcope – or any form
of treatment for women with cervical inflammation or lesions! CAMO initiated
this program, and now there are 3 functional colposcopes and cryo units
in the west. More important, there are Honduran physicians who know how
to use this equipment. CAMO would like to thank Dr. John Weeman and
Dr. D.J. McFadden for their expertise and willingness to travel to Honduras
to share their knowledge with 14 of their Honduran medical colleagues.
Since this training, 20 women with abnormal test results have already been
treated. With treatment now available to the women, we are hopeful that
we will see a decrease in these unnecessary deaths.
We also have been able to implement two successful ultrasound programs,
and we are hopeful to expand one more unit to a small clinic called Santa
Rita de Copan. Over fifty ultrasounds were completed in October,
and each procedure helped to train the local OB/GYN physicians on the proper
reading and measurement of the fetus. Infant mortality rates are very high
in Honduras, and it is our hope that by providing better prenatal care
and knowing the estimated date of birth, mothers will be better prepared
for the 2-day journey to the hospital. Many come in after walking
hours after their water has broken, or have been in labor and unable to
deliver due to complications. With better prenatal care, both the baby
and the mother will have a chance for a better outcome.
We
had a surprise visit during our recent training in operative blood management
classes given by Dr. Paul Potter. On Sunday October 24, Dr. Potter
and his wife Thelma had just arrived in Santa Rosa when a call came that
doctors from Guatemala, Nicaragua, and from the Capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa,
walked in the doors of the Hotel wanting the equipment and education for
their facilities. We hadn’t advertised that Dr. Potter was coming to Honduras,
but word has a way of spreading when here is a need! What was scheduled
to be a small local training class quickly turned into a much larger, international
course. The technology is not new, but companies have not made the equipment
and supplies available to the Central American countries. The equipment
I am talking about is what is known as Auto transfusion. When you
bleed during surgery, your own blood is washed, recycled and given back
to you. Your own blood is much better for your immune system and
improves your rate of recuperation. With San Pedro Sula, Honduras
having the highest rate of AIDS in Central America, the need for this service
is immense. We are hopeful that together we can get interest from
companies that sell the auto transfusion machine to look at the market
in Central America. This will translate into many lives being saved.
To this end, we are in the process of the establishment of the Central
American Commission for Operative Blood Management to help with the introduction
and quality control of this technology within Central America. Our
second meeting will be held on Feb 4, 2005.
with
the dream that the many Honduras-based non-profit organizations would use
the site to communicate and share their ideas and projects with each other.
The site was a great success, and an annual conference is now held every
October to bring the participants together face to face. Last year
CAMO was one of many organizations asked to present our work. The presentation
went well and created some conversation. This year the conference
focused a bit more on sustainable projects, and we were asked what amount
of time it would take to more fully present CAMO’s model. 
Our
response was that a workshop was needed to cover the basic concepts of
sustainable development in a developing country such as Honduras.
Marco asked if CAMO would be willing to give the workshop, so we did.
The response was great! We initially asked to limit the class to 30 attendees
in leadership positions. We decided to accept 11 more at the last minute
due to the great demand. From the evaluations received after the
program, we feel that it met a need, and we’ve been invited back next year.
We are excited at the interest of these organizations as they come to realize
that handing out free medicine and medical care is not the way to promote
accountability or responsibility of either the recipient or the caregiver.
We look forward to sharing our concept with those who might be interested.
We will be posting the content of the conference to our web site (www.camo.org)
by Jan 1, 2005.
Respiratory
infections are the number one killer of children under the age of 5 in
Honduras. In addition, deforestation is also becoming a great concern
in this region. It turns out that the wood-based stoves that are
used in many homes are a major cause of respiratory infections and the
deforestation. These stoves use an exorbitant amount of wood and are generally
not constructed to ventilate the smoke out of the house. However,
the cost to improve the ventilation and efficiency of these stoves is nominal.
The knowledge and materials to convert the stoves can be made available
and affordable to families with little effort from you as donators. 
CAMO has set a goal to work with 25 families to improve their stoves. The
plan is to train the local women on how to build their own stove and then
encourage these women to pass the knowledge on to others. Each stove
improvement will cost $30 dollars and each family will be asked to contribute
$5 dollars of that towards their stove. For $625 we could help 25 families
have a healthier environment to live in and protect the environment at
the same time! We ask you and your family to consider adopting one Honduran
family’s $25 stove project for this Christmas. We are fortunate to
have a Peace Corps volunteer working on this project, and we feel that
it is worth the effort. This could make a significant difference in a family’s
life when you consider how many children and adults suffer from respiratory
infections in Honduras.
