Hospital Supplies

I think sometimes we in the United States get so use to having nice hospitals, schools and other items, that we cannot even begin to comprehend the conditions we find in other places. I have written and talked about the inadequate conditions at Hospital Escuela. The conditions are that way, not because people want them that way or because doctors and nurses don't care, but because the funds are not available to have necessities like surgical gloves and other sterile equipment. Therefore, a lot of surgeries just are not done. A lot of people die from inadequate care and inadequate sterilization.

The container we unloaded last month had hospital supplies for Hospital Escuela. Nothing here is done simply, not even donating much needed hospital supplies. We have been trying to do this all week, but the right people have to be available at the right time. We were suppose to meet our doctor friend at the warehouse at 9:30 and load our truck and his truck full of hospital supplies, and then be at the hospital at 11:00. The doctor is an orthopedic surgeon and was doing a full hip replacement this morning. We loaded our truck and pulled the other boxes out of the warehouse and waited. Someone called for the doctor and said he was not going to make it to the warehouse and to meet him at the hospital at 11:30. We hauled several boxes back into the warehouse and squeezed a few more in our truck. We went to Dunkin Donuts across from the hospital and had a cup of coffee and waited. We drove over to the hospital. We never have trouble driving right in. I did not think the guards wanted to let us through the gates. Marc finally made them understand we were donating all of that stuff. I can't imagine what they thought we were doing. We got to the hospital and waited some more for the doctor. There is absolutely no way for us to go off and leave that all of that in the back of truck. So, I stayed with the truck while Marc and others made several trips unloading the supplies. There were surgical gloves, scrubs, sutures, gauze, bandages, 5 cases of sterile surgery kits, oxygen masks, ekg pads, syringes, needles, an air conditioner for the sound room where audiology tests are given. I am sure there was more. As the last of the boxes were taken from the truck, I walked upstairs with Marc. We met the director of the hospital, who was most grateful for these supplies. We got to see the audiology equipment that was donated by IRC last summer. As we started to leave, there were some journalists from 2 different papers. The doctor had tipped off the media. He is a member of congress as well as being a doctor. The publicity isn't important to us, but it is to him. The doctor was interviewed and then Marc. Marc had to speak spanish the whole time. He did quite well.

We receive several containers of hospital supplies each year, most of them donated to Hospital Escuela. While it would never be enough to supply the needs of this hospital, at least it makes a difference to those that receive it.

Terri