Putting Our New Gifts to Work!
Recently, we started running our brand new CT scanner. And it's already making a huge impact in the way we care for patients. We were also able to purchase an ambulance recently, and that too is making a difference. Let us tell you about one such patient whose life was just saved because of these gifts to our hospital.
Yohannes was a victim of a car accident. A terrible car accident that had fractured several of his ribs, and resulted in a punctured lung. Even with supplemental oxygen and a chest tube, we were not able to keep up the oxygen level in his blood. From the x-ray we suspected that he might have lung contusions - a severe bruise to the lung itself - that makes it impossible to breathe. But it wasn't completely clear. Maybe something else was going on? Our surgeons considered taking him to the operating room to open up his chest - a procedure called thoracotomy. But because of our CT, we were able to scan his chest, and the result saved him a brutal surgery. The CT in fact showed severe lung contusions - something that would not be helped with surgery.
So, now what to do with Yohannes? We don't yet have a mechanical ventilator (although we will soon thanks to more donations). So, the only hope for him was to get him to Addis Ababa and a hospital with mechanical ventilation. It was nearing dusk, and the helicopter from nearby Awassa was not able to airlift him there. And so, our brand new ambulance made its maiden voyage to Addis with a patient.
We intubated the young man, and his oxygen levels improved immediately with the bagged air forced into his lungs. One of our anesthetists rode in the back, squeezing the bag for six hours all the way to Addis! He got to the hospital there in the middle of the night, and got placed on a ventilator. I spoke with the ICU doctor at the accepting hospital today, and though he is critical, he has a fighting chance for survival now. If he can be mechanically ventilated while his lungs recover, he just might make it!
This kind of care is only possibly because of our generous donors. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for those of you who made it possible for us to get a CT scanner (which saved this young man a surgery) and an ambulance (which got him to an ICU that could care for him).
Be a part of the team. Join our 100 for 100 campaign today! Pledge $100 monthly gift for the next year, and be a part of the 100 donors who are saving lives in Ethiopia.
Help From Within & Without
We are so energized by our donors and volunteers. We have folks who are giving financially to the hospital. And we have folks who come and serve at the hospital. So naturally, we would be excited about a family who has decided to do BOTH!
Meet Claire Gahm. She's a fourth-year medical student at the Medical School for International Health in Beeraheva, Israel. Her medical school is a partnership with Columbia University. It's actually an American-style medical school that focuses on cross-cultural and global opportunities for the students. Claire came to Soddo for her 2 month international rotation, and is loving it. She's thrown herself in completely - working the ER, assisting in surgeries, and helping out with just about everything.
Now, meet Claire's parents. Her dad is a medical doctor and her mom, a physician's assistant. They've always been supportive of the their daughter's mission efforts, and Soddo Christian Hospital is no different. When Greg and Laurie Gahm began researching where their daughter was working, they wanted to be a part. They instantly joined our "100 for 100" campaign, and became faithful supporters of the hospital!
Raising their kids to be men and women after God's own heart, the Gahms enthusiastically support the places they go to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus. When we asked Greg about it, he said, "As I speak to Claire about Soddo, I am reminded how our Lord withdrew from the crowds to go to places of refreshment for prayer with His Father. I feel Soddo is such a place. Because of the ' work' that is done there, it is a place of refreshment for all the staff as well as for those in Ethiopia."
We think so too, Greg. God bless your family, and thanks for all you do for Soddo Christian Hospital!