Joining together

Open Heart International (OHI) has been working hand in hand with the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for the past 3 years. On this project, our team consists of people from multiple nationalities living in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, United Kingdom and Germany. In total we are 32 volunteers spanning across the following roles:

Project Coordinator
Cardiologists
Sonographer
Surgeons
Perfusionists
Anaesthetists
Theatre Nurses
Anaesthetic Nurses
Intensivists
ICU Nurses
Ward Nurses
Biomedical Engineer
Physiotherapist
and me, media liaison

Since OHI has brought both a paediatric and an adult team to Tanzania, most medical positions are covered by two or more individuals. During the week of November 20-26, the Screening and setup teams were busy paving the way for the main team.

The cardiologists analysed many cases so that the surgeons can select the cases that make the most sense to operate on (based on many considerations and variables, top of which is helping to improve the local cardiac surgery program). On Sunday we had the briefing dinner at out hotel with the full team.

The team have been working hard unpacking and settling in to the roles at which they usually do at home.

Over the next few days we will profile a few of the participant’s roles and their importance to the success of this mission. For now, keep an eye out on this blog for some pictures and videos of the first days of surgery.