Acident and Emergency Ward at Kenyatta and Medical Camp Preparations

Today was a tough one as we spent our first shift at Kenyatta National Hospital. My heart is still heavy as my mind replays some of the images that won't be far from my memory for a very long time. The six of us were placed in pairs on the pediatric, labor and delivery, and acident and emergency wards. As the title reveals, I was on the A&E ward today. For the first part of the day we were with a group of Kenyan Red Cross EMT's and critical care nursing students in a class covering the disaster and mass casualty procedures and response at Kenyatta. It was awesome to get to sit in on the class and learn from the Kenyan students and also have them desire to learn how things are done in America. Our community health Community Emergency Response Training from last semester came in handy today! After that class we were ushered down to the Acident and Emergency ward and given a tour of the layout, procedures, and patient flow. Talk about overwhelming. Patients and families lining every wall and hallway, ambulances constantly arriving, babies crying, and desperate eyes staring at you searching for an answer to their pain and suffering. Nothing compares to the emotions that overwhelm you. Absolutely nothing. You feel almost as helpless as they do because the need is as vast. The hardest part of the day was my time in the resusitation room. A litle one of about 2 or 3 was in the process of being intubated with his mother beside him crying softly. She looked at us with that same desperation. As I finally glanced at her still child my heart dropped to the floor and it took all my strength not to cry. Her little boy was bured from head to toe. Most likely due to falling into a fire or having cooking oil spill down on his sweet curious face. A tragedy all to common in the slum communities here in Kenya. The team was struggling to intubate him due to the swelling and infmalatory response occuring in his airway due to severe facial burns. A procedure normally steril here in the US was attmepted by a nurse not even wearing gloves. Quite a contrast from what I have been taught. Those images burn in my mind tonight and I pray for that sweet little boy. Join with me in prayer for him. I don't know if he made it. This little one is only one of thousands every day being treated at Kenyatta. Only one of thousands desperate for resources, desperate for care, desperate for an answer, and desperate for hope. You my friend are blessed. Thank God for your health today. Thank Him for your abundance. And even though it is not ideal, thank him for the health care system you have access to. Our hospitals may not offer the best coverage, but praise Him that admitance does not equal a death sentance at times. You are far better off than you may feel tonight.

Tomorrow we take off for the weekend to Kakamega, about an 8 hour drive away. There we will be partnering with World Comp and puting on a medical camp in a rural community for two days. We expect to serve roughly 900 people. We will conduct health screenings and referral for diabetes and hypertenion, malaria screening, deworming for children, jigger removal, wound care, stiching, treat skin infections, vision and hearing screenings, diagnose and treat UTI's, pap smears and prostate screenings, and rehydrate for dehydration and other gastric conditions. I am looking forward to beign thrown into something totally new and also to carry more responsibility as a nurse in a rural African setting. I can hardly believe this is only day 5 of 31. Thank you for praying for our team. Please continue to pray for health as one has a cold and one has been dealing with migranes. Pray for openness of heart and love to overflow for the people we serve, sensitivity to the Spirit, and favor as we build relationships with the communities.
Much Love.  ~Ally