And we are off!

Hi Everyone,

My name is Adam and I have signed on for this year’s Open Heart International (OHI) Papua New Guinea trip in order to assist the team with blogging, media as well as assisting in the day to day jobs here on the ground. This is personally my first time out of Australia as well as being my first time with OHI! I am really looking forward to following the team over the coming days as they perform life changing surgery as well as being able to share this experience with you.

There are three “newbies” on this trip (including myself), as well veteran nurses and doctors. I am really looking forward to getting to know all the volunteers as well as the local staff, patients and community. Over the course of the next couple of days I will be sure to fill you in with plenty of stories in the upcoming blog posts!

Sunday was the first day for most of the team in Papua New Guinea. The team all met together at the hospital to really get things under way. The local team along with our ICU and ward nurses then began working on organising the logistics of beds, space and equipment to ensure as smooth as process as possible for the upcoming week.

The theatre and ICU ward begun preparing for their first patients to come through. They began working hand in hand with the local staff and services to deliver the operations and patient care while teaching local staff some new procedures and methods as they go.

This year’s Papua New Guinea trip involves several tonnes of equipment that accumulates to a few hundred thousand Australian dollars. This equipment consists of dedicated paediatric gear that covers a huge range of medical categories to service the operations and aftercare of the theatre, intensive care unit and the ward.

Met Stephanie, our first patient for PNG 2015!