(Jan 23, 2011, (Seattle))--More than two dozen volunteers -doctors, nurses, technicians and more — from the nonprofit group Seattle Anesthesia Outreach (SAO) will travel to Black Lion Hospital in Ethiopia this month to install anesthesia machines, monitoring devices and dozens of other pieces of equipment they hope will save lives and improve patient care, especially during and after surgery.
When Steve Sands walked into the overcrowded Black Lion Hospital in Ethiopia in late October, he knew it would be poorly equipped. Just how poorly, he hadn't anticipated. "It was actually kind of scary," says Sands, a Seattle-based clinical engineer. "Exposed wires. Equipment that looked like it was out of the 1950s — some of it held together with tape."
Laura Adiele, a registered nurse on the same trip, also was shocked by conditions at the only public hospital in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, an urban area of 5 million residents. "They are warm, beautiful people," said Adiele, "but their hospital is in shambles." Story after story of tragedy and loss can be traced to the lack of equipment considered basic in the United States. Read more from Seattle Times Sunday »
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