RESTOR International Inc. returned to Bahir Dar, Ethiopia in April 2016.
RESTOR International returned to Bahir Dar, Ethiopia in 2016 to continue our work that was started in November 2014. The plan was to follow-up with the patients who received burn contracture repairs in 2014 and to those operated on at the Gamby Hospital then by a Norwegian Plastic Surgeon (using equipment purchased by RESTOR International) and worked with the Gamby staff who received training in 2014.
The mission’s goal was to monitor the patients’ progress, perform follow-up surgeries if needed and perform 50 new surgeries – some cleft lip and palate but the majority consisted of contracture repairs. We also established a sustainable satellite burn center at the Gamby Hospital.
We are excited to have included a new position on the team, an Occupational Therapist, who helped ensure the quality post-op care of the contracture repairs.
Also joining us from Victoria was renowned Canadian Anesthesiologist, Dr. Angela Enright, who taught extensive courses on Essential Pain Management, not just to the Gamby hospital staff but to local Physicians, Nurses, Pharmacists, as well as medical and nursing students from the local schools. This program has recently been added to the curriculum of the medical schools in New Zealand and the UK.
The team left April 1 and arrived in Bahir Dar on April 3 after a grueling 33-hour trip. Some of the team members arrived early to ensure everything was in order at the Gamby Hospital and started working Monday, April 4th.
The 2016 team was from all over Western Canada including Kelowna, Edmonton, Vancouver, Comox, Courtney, Victoria and Seattle Washington.
Medical Team Volunteers:
Plastic Surgeons:
Dr. Stan Valnicek – Kelowna
Dr. David Williamson – Kelowna
Dr. Adil Ladak – Edmonton
Anesthesiologists:
Dr. Bill East – Kelowna
Dr. Gillian Moll – Victoria
Dr. Adrian Rosenberg – Seattle
Paediatricians:
Faruqa Ladha – Edmonton
Collin Yong – Vancouver
Surgical Care Coordinator:
Kim East – Kelowna
Nurses:
Debbie Earnshaw – Kelowna
Lisa van den Brink – Kelowna
Sheila Jensen – Edmonton
Julie Ter Kuile – Victoria
Occupational Therapist:
David Nelson – Kelowna
Kelowna Mission Director:
Jean Bird – Kelowna
Non-Medical Volunteers:
Deb Nolan – Comox
Tim Cowan – Courtney
Lisa Hammond – Kelowna
Cliff Moore – Kelowna
Peter Schultz – Kelowna
Dina Kotler – Kelowna
The Gamby Teaching General Hospital in Bahir Dar