1,500 Region One residents treated during COMET medical programme

Dec 19, 2011 News

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A child suffering from cerebral malaria, another with severe tuberculosis, and two men with liver cysts were among the 1,500 patents that were treated for various ailments by members of a Canadian medical team that visited Region One last month.
Dr. Michael Silverman, of the Mount Sinai Hospital of Canada, said that the Canada-based Sandspring Resources Limited and its Guyana operating subsidiary, ETK, Inc., a mining company, based in Toroparu, Region Seven, made their successful 2011 medical education and treatment programme possible.
Dr. Silverman was the head of the team that visited Region One during its November exercise that resulted in over 1,500 patients being treated by the team of volunteers from the Canadian Outreach for Medical Education and Treatment (COMET).
Sandspring paid for the cost of travel, room and board, as well as for the substantial amount of medications and supplies brought into the region, said Silverman, an infectious disease specialist who has been doing medical outreach work in Guyana for 17 years.
“Approximately 1500 patients were assessed and given treatment. Even more people received health education, dental care supplies, and vitamins. Several life-threatening and emergency situations were skillfully treated. Important research was done.
“Our work side-by-side with the local health care staff allowed for important opportunities for training and sharing of expertise.”
The outreach exercise started in Mabaruma, which also served as the team’s home base for the first week. The clinics that were held were opened up to the community at large, and were attended by over 125 patients each day. Patients included villager s as well as persons from other communities.
Tests performed included haemoglobin, urinalysis, pregnancy and malaria tests. Testing for HIV, Hepatitis B, and syphilis was also done. Testing for sexually transmitted diseases was provided for all high-risk patients, including miners at Drum Hill.
Testing with electrocardiograms and echocardiograms was done for those patients with heart problems. An ultrasound machine was available and particularly useful for checking pregnancies, and in detecting liver infections in a few patients who required urgent medical treatment.
Several procedures were performed, including suturing of numerous severe and life threatening lacerations, splinting of fractures, and drainage of abscesses. Several dental extractions were performed in Red Hill for patients with painful decayed teeth.
Silverman noted, “In White Water, a wonderful service was performed for a beautiful teenage girl with severe deformities on her outer ears by repairing the deformities.”
Patient problems seen in the clinic included common concerns such as back pain, abdominal pain, fevers, rashes, and diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. More dramatic problems included the diagnosis and treatment of a very ill child with cerebral malaria, a child with severe tuberculosis, and two men with liver cysts.
There were numerous cases of malaria, dengue and typhoid fever which were diagnosed and treated.
“An exciting moment for the volunteers came on November 30, when the team was able to help a young woman deliver a baby boy.”
In addition to providing free medication for the patients seen in clinics, the team was able to give medication to the Pakera District Hospital in Matthew’s Ridge, Port Kaituma, Mabaruma and Bartica Hospitals to use for the next few months and to Georgetown Hospital to distribute to other facilities.
The team visited the Wauna village and ran a busy clinic in a section of the primary school. On November 24, the team travelled by boat up the river to the village of Red Hill and ran a clinic there. That night, they stayed over at the factory at Drum Hill and the next day, held a clinic for the factory workers there. The team also held a clinic in the village of White Water.
Leya Aronson, a very experienced pediatric nurse who has worked in Guyana for more than ten years, helped with organizing the trip itself and managing the clinics. Returning experts included Bessie Ortuoste, an echocardiography technologist, Janet Roth, an ER nurse with extensive experience in both education and outreach to the developing world and Donna Parker, a lab technologist who devoted particularly long hours to the job. N ew additions to the team this year were Dr. Steven Moss, a pediatrician, Drs. Howard Burke and Michelle Albert, family physicians, Dr. Alex Seluzhytsky, and June-Ann Sealey, an ICU nurse (who was born in Guyana).
The team was accompanied and assisted on its mission by members of the Lions Club of Guyana –  Dr. Sarah Gordon, Skip Lloyd Garraway, Gloria Cort, Mena Carto, Pat Gray and Yvonne Hercules.

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