Medical Team: The Next Best Thing to Housecalls

While they’re not quite making housecalls, a medical team from the U.S. has gone out of their way to provide healthcare in four communities near Gracias. Monica was one of the thirteen team members in the group, which was made up of people from Washington State, S. Dakota, Texas, Massachusetts, and Colorado. She was able to share how things went on their trip.

The team provided medical exams for the children in the Mercedes, Tablon, Betania, and Quelacasque sponsorship programs. That would have been a huge undertaking in itself, but they also opened it up to other people in those communities. Monica said there aren’t even words to adequately explain the experience. The team saw everyone from a 24-day-old baby to a 79-year-old adult. Even though this is something Monica has dreamed of doing for years, she said, “I’m continually surprised.”

The mobile unit was made up of a vision station, vital sign station, doctor station, and a pharmacy station. The pharmacy was overseen by a registered nurse who educated people on how to use prescribed eye drops, how to use an inhaler, and the proper way to apply creams.

When the team began, it took about 1.5 hours to set up. They were essentially working out of suitcases and bags. By the third day of operation, they were able to set up in about a half hour. They also have to bring in tables and rearrange chairs. Monica expressed her gratitude to the translators who also helped them set up the tables.

The team brought all of the essentials and then some. For the past four months, the team had been putting out the word about their trip. They had donations to cover the costs of medications, otoscope kits, laceration repair kits, staple kits, bandages, and antibiotics. They even arrived with a sonogram machine to let women hear their baby’s heartbeat for the first time. Monica laughed and said, “I feel we get as excited as they do!”

The main focus for the sponsorship kids was to provide deworming treatment and a couple of months of vitamins. Each child came through the line with a paper containing their name and sponsorship number (if in the Manna program - they also saw some kids from the Well's neighboring program). The deworming medicine was dispensed at the table. The vitamins were given out along with instructions written in Spanish. Then the child’s information sheet received a check mark to show they got their vitamins and deworming.

The team was made up of one doctor, three physician assistants, two RNs, one paramedic, one EMT, two medical assistants, and three non-medical people. These also received some assistance from two local doctors who gave their time to help out during the week. Those without medical training did visual acuity tests and helped to dispense vitamins. Each person had a job to do.

Because of COVID, it has been difficult to keep up on the sponsored children's health. This is a side of the sponsorship program that people often forget about, but it is vital to the overall health of the children, and the goal is to ramp it back up now that COVID is less of a threat. Hopefully, more medical teams like this one can happen in the near future. In the words of Monica, “It has been tremendous!”

-posted by Christi