April 25, 2012  9:30 pm

A few stats on Niger...

• The population is 14 million ( in Nigeria it is 140 million), and most of the people live in small villages
• Niger is in the top 3 countries world wide in infant and maternal mortality
• There is one doctor for every 30,000 people
• The literacy rate is 16%, and 90+% of that is men

The Hospital...

• The smell is like hot formaldehyde mixed with every old rotten bodily fluid
• The equipment is either non existent, broken, out-dated, or in a back room "somewhere"
• The sinks are rusty, and the surgical scrub sink in equipped with a bar of soap, and one very old scrub brush, and the faucet has to be turned off by hand
• The patients line the hallways in stretchers, wait patiently on the floor, lie in a hospital bed in a room with 25 other beds and 25 other family members caring for the patients
• The clinic attached to the hospital is overflowing all day
• Despite the heat, the smell, and the suffering, most patients and family members offer a friendly "sannu" (hello) with a fist raised (instead of waving the hand)....

Other observations...

• The hospital is "out of ibuprofen"
• There is no local anesthesia used with spinals
• There is no rhogam (if a mother is Rh negative)
• There are no fetal monitors, no non-stress tests, only a few dopplers and fetascopes
• There are 2 ultrasound machines which are GOLD around here- I cannot imagine trying to make a diagnosis without one, especially because so many other avenues are not available
• There is a limited lab that runs slow and often machines are broken, or lab orders forgotten
• There are no "codes", no code cart, no epinephrine, no ventilators...people just die (often of preventable causes)
• Power outages are common- at least hourly, even in surgery. We just put pressure on the incision and wait patiently
• Neonatal recessutaion is almost non- existent. There is no fetal pulse ox or meconium aspirator. The wet towel stays under the baby. There is no way to place an umbilical line in a newborn and placing an IV only happens if a certain nurse is around (and she wasn't last night).
• There are no patient or baby ID bands...JACHO would have a stroke assessing this place!
• There are no diapers in the hospital or on any baby I have seen in town.

Today I tried to picture Jesus on the floor with the patients, in the dirty corner of the clinic, and in the operating room. His peace is here, and often reconized by the patients first. May you all feel it where ever you are, and whatever you are doing...his is with us, and he is bigger than all of this.
With gratitude,
Drea