The Calm before the Storm--TAKE TWO

I had a nice relaxing weekend in Kigali in order to prepare myself for Round 2 of the SAFE Course.  I decided not to go to Gisenyi with Patty and Megan as I wanted some time to regroup and relax before gearing up for this week.

Teaching the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist at Kibagabaga

This morning I accompanied Angela Enright and Sarah Kessler (from Lifebox) to Kibagabaga to help with some Surgical Safety Checklist Training. For those of you who are not aware, Kibagabaga is a district hospital in Kigali and has been selected as a the site to pilot the surgical safety checklist in Rwanda.  Sophie Reshamwalla (from Lifebox) and Beth Riviello have spent endless hours at this hospital teaching the staff about the importance of the checklist and working on local implementation. The process has not been easy but I am confident they will be successful.

Angela Enright with the Rwandan Anesthesia Residents on academic day

After leaving Kibagabaga, we stopped by CHUK so that Angela could visit. She had not been back to CHUK in several years and was eager to see all of the changes.  She was quite impressed with the new operating rooms and all that had been accomplished over the past 5 years. I had the privilege of introducing her to the anesthesia residents at academic day.  Without her initiative and efforts, anesthesia in Rwanda would not be where it is today.   She is actually one of the founders of the Rwandan Anesthesia Residency program.

There is no problem that a nice cup of tea will not solve.

Simulation using  the Universal Anesthesia Machine (UAM)

This afternoon, we arrived back in Rwamagana at our home away from home "The Dereva Hotel" to start our preparations for this week's SAFE Course.   Now that we had one course under our belt, we know what we need to do to get organized.  Despite a new crew of local faculty and participants, we are confident that this course will be even more successful than last week's.

Stay tuned.....