by Caroline Altman
Public Relations

In what makes great sense for recycling and for global health, MUSC's latest outreach to Tanzania involves the donation of more than $1 million worth of surplus equipment no longer being used here.

Randy Pauling, biomedical engineering supervisor, said just because equipment is old, doesn't mean it no longer works. "Stuff that's trash to us is gold to someone else, and these monitors are gold to the Tanzanians," he said, referring to the one lone battery-operated pulse oximeter that currently exists in the 150-bed Lutheran Memorial Hospital in Haydom.

Equipment being sent to Tanzania was organized, crated and stored in MUSC's warehouse before being sent.

Thanks to MUSC and a local non-profit Madaktari Africa, there soon will be 12 more of them in Haydom's hospital. More than 40 Phillip monitors and 100 Nellcor pulse oximeters from MUSC are going to three hospitals in Tanzania.
In Tanzania, the hospitals have limited resources and only 5.2 health care workers for every 10,000 people. The Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine has been sending faculty and residents to the Bugando Medical Center in Mwanza, Tanzania, for the past three years as part of the globalization efforts in MUSC's Strategic Plan 2010-2015. In addition, the goal of the program is to give African medical staff the tools and training they need to provide health care to patients and teach others how to do the same.

During a trip to Tanzania in 2010, Carlee Clark, M.D., assistant professor of anesthesia and perioperative medicine, found that physicians were trying to provide anesthesia with limited resources and needed equipment. The donated equipment will allow physicians to monitor patients' vital signs and help them determine what treatment to provide for them.

Pauling, who helped with organizing and packing the equipment, learned from the MUSC anesthesiologists that patients were dying both in the operating rooms and later in the recovery room because of an inability to monitor patients undergoing surgery. "There is no way to alert medical personnel if a patient starts having complications. These monitors will save lives."

Robert Tritt, left, and Randy Pauling packed the supplies.

MUSC's former neonatal ICU equipment had been sitting in a warehouse for more than a year, unusable to the hospital anymore. Meanwhile, Scott T. Reeves, M.D., chairman for the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, was arranging for the equipment to be donated by MUSC and sent to Tanzania to support his department's efforts in Mwanza. As the equipment was being cataloged, it became possible to expand the opportunity to provide equipment to three Tanzania hospitals including the Lutheran Memorial Hospital in Haydom, the Muhimbili National Cardiac Center in Dar Salam and the Bugando Medical Center in Mwanza.

Through months of volunteer work, the equipment has been packed into multiple crates and is being shipped to Tanzania. Once the shipment has arrived, Robert Tritt, biomedical technician, will be visiting to teach how to install, maintain and work on the equipment. Pauling said Tritt was the perfect choice to go because the NICU was his area. "I was really happy when he wanted to go, because he knows these monitors as well as anyone here."

Tritt said it will be fascinating to be in Tanzania teaching others how to work on the same equipment that he has been working with for the past eight years in Charleston. "I've taught people over here, but this is a little different. Once I leave Tanzania, they are on their own. I need to make sure I convey everything I need to them."

Kathleen Ellis, director of operations, Center for Global Initiatives, said this project shows the amazing impact of what can happen when multiple departments collaborate across campus. The long-term plan at the center is to work across campus to develop a formal process for donating surplus medical equipment and supplies overseas so there's a structured process versus having to do it on a project-by-project basis.

"The benefits are great for everyone.This type of initiative supports our global health and community service missions while allowing us to look at ways to help lower operational costs, reduce waste and promote resource sustainability through the recycling of usable surplus medical supplies and equipment."

Ellis said what makes this initiative so effective is that Reeves and his colleagues spent time up front, assessing the needs of the local hospitals and the limitations of basic infrastructure, such as electricity reliability and staff support, before assembling the appropriate equipment.

"Sending a 'trainer' to ensure that the people receiving the supplies know how to use them and maintain them is what makes all the difference. It means the donated supplies that often end up unused in developing countries due to lack of training, lack of replacement parts or inability can actually be used." 

To learn about MUSC's Center for Global Initiatives, visit http://globalhealth.musc.edu or join MUSC Global on facebook.

Reeves said the project happened with the support of many people, including: Lisa Montgomery, MUSC CFO for assisting with state appropriations; Teresa Hacunda, director of Civic Affairs for Covidien, for aiding in getting supplies; Dan Altman, support services operation manager, for establishing contact with Hacunda; Chris Fennell, courier coordinator at the warehouse, for navigating the state system to obtain the donation; Carlee Clark, M.D., for identifying appropriate equipment; Doyle Word, CEO of Madaktari Africa, for arranging the container ship and ground transportation; and Cathy and Townsend Reeves, for packing.