The second team arrived late that night. I was fast asleep and did not realize of their presence. Maybe there was some noise heard but i was not interested to come out from my sleeping bag! haha It was that cold at night.
Dr Jit, Dr Sue, Dr Lai, Dr Reynu, Pak Mahmud, Kak Zah cam to join us. The team has certainly grown and we were increasing our services that day. Pak Mahmud took over the mantle of clinics logistics and we were expecting a bigger crowd that day to barge our clinic.
hand over briefing to Team 2
The task was even bigger now, setting up the Mobile OT! This is the first time ever, a fully functional Mercy Malaysia mobile OT. Mr Guna was ever ready, getting the generator ready. We had a good electrician local on board who had helped to troubleshoot a lot! A priceless addition to the team. Mana taknye, kan ada aircon sume OT ni! I am in a way very pleased that i am involved in this, so that any issues can be embedded as the blueprint for our future missions.
the OT
Setting up the Rofi ( the big tent) was a big task because somehow we have left the electrical pump, therefore resorting to pure human power. It was never tried before to pump it up manually, but the hardworking volunteers helped us out. Wow.. and it was erected majestically :)
This was then my turn to ensure everything was OK inside the OT, the handling of stuff and limiting personnels in the tent. It was not an easy task as being a mobile OT, we had to go back to the first principles to ensure we are running it accordingly, safe and clean.
toxic waste- Cidex outside the tent
We did not have a GA machine, so the for anaesthetic services would specifically cater MAC (Monitored Anaesthesia Care) cases . If it was deemed necessary, then Ketamine Anaesthesia would be administered. By Day 4, the transport services to the city was accessible. Therefore, we thought that if the cases would need a long follow through, then we will not perform the surgery in our facility. Besides that, near to our place was the SKM hospital, a specialized plastic surgery hospital (collaboration with Interplast Germany) which catered initially for elective cases. However, since the disaster struck, they have managed a number of polytrauma cases in their world class facility. I had a tour in the hospital while sourcing disposables and drugs for my mobile OT.
OT team for the innaugural case
It was an invaluable experience as I have certainly learnt a lot about Disaster Medicine. Being on ground zero was a totally different ball game and i would not trade this experience for any other thing. The friendship and teamwork from mind alike colleagues was priceless. Most of us do not really know each other before this but Alhamdulillah, the team dynamics was excellent as we gelled and certainly had fun together. It was hardwork but with excellent team members, everything became easy and solvable.
Thank you very much Mercy Malaysia for deploying me for this team. I am indeed thankful to Allah for his grace and his plans. Thank you team.. Miss you all!
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