July 24, 2006

Durham Vein Specialist returns from participation with Mission Work in South America, below is the account of the adventure

Quito, Ecuador

From July 2nd to July 9th, several members of the American College of Phlebology, working with the organization, Amigos de salud y Amistad, participated in a volunteer work group trip to Quito, Ecuador. Terason provided a new Terason T3000 ultrasound unit for this humanitarian medical mission.

Participating in the trip were Drs Steven Zimmet, Helane Fronek, Nick Morrison, and Terri Morrison, RN. The ultrasound section was well represented with technologists, Diana Neuhardt, RVT, Barbara Pohle-Schulze, RVT, RDMS, RDCS and Joseph Zygmunt, RVT, who provided imaging skills for the group. The work included the two other volunteers, Ryan Taylor and Lisa Fronek.

The staging area was Houston's Hobby International Airport, where the vein specialists and volunteers from all over the United States met up for the trip south. The flight was about 6 hours long, and virtually straight south to Ecuador. This meant no jet-lag due to time zone changes. The Republic of Ecuador actually gets its name from the Spanish word for equator, in that it straddles the equator. Surrounded by Columbia and Peru, Ecuador is located in the Andes Mountains, and probably best known because of Charles Dawin and his work in the Galalpagos Islands. Quito is the capital city, although Guayaquil is its largest city. The currency is the US dollar, and believe it or not, standard electrical outlets matching those in the US were found everywhere in Quito. This made use of the portable laptop Terason a breeze!

We worked in the Policia Nacional del Ecuador Hospital, which is the national hospital that typically serves the police and members of the military only. For this mission, special announcements were made and the general public was granted access to the international group of vein specialists.

On our first day, we held diagnostic clinics and triaged patients. We arrived at 7am to a throng of people just waiting to be seen. Starting the second day treatments were began in an endoscopy area, which although functional was primitive compared to US facilities. Daily upon our arrival, we broke into two groups, one for the diagnostic clinic, and one for the treatment areas. Patients were lined up each morning, waiting to be seen. In one area of the treatment area, chairs were lined up and we had an "On Deck" area for those patients about to be treated next. Each time we finished, everyone would just slide down one chair closer to the treatment area.

Each day, we'd finish up and walk by those who were waiting for hours for their turn. Amazingly these same people would be present, in the same order, again in their chairs, the next morning at 7am when we arrived, thankful that we were there to help them. We learned that most people traveled between 2 and 4 hours to be seen, with several traveling over 8 hours to the clinic.

The portable Terason T3000 provided awesome images, color and Doppler, performing consistently and dependably all week. No matter if it was battery operated or plugged in, dependability was guaranteed. Another great feature was its ease of use. Working in unfamiliar conditions, each of the 3 techs, and 3 docs were able to scan skillfully, using the multiple features while not getting caught up with difficult knobology.

During the week long clinic, 350 duplex examinations were performed, and medical care was delivered to almost 250 patients. Treatments were performed using endovenous ablation, ultrasound guided sclerotherapy for large varicose veins, swollen legs, and venous ulcerations.

The group took one day for a little sight seeing after the trip. We made 3 stops, the straw market, Otavalo the leather city, and of course at the "Center of the World". Called that due to the presence of the equator, where a bit of fun was had trying to prove the answer to the age old trivia, the ONLY place on earth you can stand an egg on its end, is at the EQUATOR.

Joseph Zygmunt, RVT works at the Vein Help Clinic at Southpoint. Located in Durham, NC, the VeinHelp Clinic has been treating patients from the mid-atlantic region since its opening in 2001. For more information call 919-405-4200