Remote Medicine
I was lucky enough to work at an Indian Health Services clinic/emergency room in Northern Arizona. This was an amazing experience! The site was equipped with plain xrays and a basic but adequate supply of medicines. The ER also doubled as the pharmacy at night to dispense medicines, as there was no pharmacy in the area. There is the full gambit of medicine there, from trauma to obstetrics, womb to tomb. I loved it! The staff was amazing and very competent. I cannot wait to get back up there again!
Laboratory Set up
The Flying Samaritans operate free clinics in Baja, Mexico. Some of these clinics might benefit from having some laboratory diagnostics to assist with patient care. I have been working on this problem. Using a few books that are very helpful: District Laboratory Practice in Tropical Countries by Monica Cheesbrough. I am planning to go a basic route including hemaglobin count, white blood cell count and platelets. I also want the ability to do gram stains for bacteria. I think cultures are a bit ambitious as we are typically there for a few days only and not enough to grow them out. Plus, space is quite limited and incubators cost lots of money!
Adventure Doc Clinic
The clinic is progressing with our vaccine order coming along with our new refrigerator orders. I have been quite busy rewriting our proposal packages for provider accompaniment services and think we have finally nailed them down. Unfortunately, we are finally getting rolling right before we leave town to Europe and North Africa. Story of my life!