Surgical Relief Trip 15th-29th October 2005
My goals were as follows:
Individual patients
To prioritise those whose need was most urgent.
To provide reconstructive surgery to the victims to save lives and salvage limbs.
To rapidly train and use those members of our team with surgical experience in simple wound debridement and closure so that I could use my time efficiently treating those who most needed my expertise.
To document the work carried out and arrange safe aftercare for when we left.
Local
Establish links with key local doctors and officials to establish a facility that could provide reconstructive surgery locally (and hence accessible to patients) and ensure that it was staffed with experienced plastic surgeons when I left.
Establish the limits and capacity of local hospitals and identify a facility that cases requiring advanced and more complex or longer-term care could be transferred to.
Regional
In conjunction with the public health service, the military health service and key members of the Pakistan Association of Plastic Surgeons, to form a strategy for the delivery of reconstructive surgery in the area.
International
To get help. Pakistan needed to know that there were no other reconstructive surgeons here and why they were so badly needed.
To enlist the help of surgeons whom I knew had the appropriate expertise. I contacted my UK colleagues through the British Association of Plastic Surgeons.
To set up a rota of UK plastic surgical teams to come to Abbottabad to continue the work that I had started as the need would be critical for the next 3 months.
These goals were achieved and are summarised in my report of 31 October 2005 (appendix 1).
Individual patients
To prioritise those whose need was most urgent.
To provide reconstructive surgery to the victims to save lives and salvage limbs.
To rapidly train and use those members of our team with surgical experience in simple wound debridement and closure so that I could use my time efficiently treating those who most needed my expertise.
To document the work carried out and arrange safe aftercare for when we left.
Local
Establish links with key local doctors and officials to establish a facility that could provide reconstructive surgery locally (and hence accessible to patients) and ensure that it was staffed with experienced plastic surgeons when I left.
Establish the limits and capacity of local hospitals and identify a facility that cases requiring advanced and more complex or longer-term care could be transferred to.
Regional
In conjunction with the public health service, the military health service and key members of the Pakistan Association of Plastic Surgeons, to form a strategy for the delivery of reconstructive surgery in the area.
International
To get help. Pakistan needed to know that there were no other reconstructive surgeons here and why they were so badly needed.
To enlist the help of surgeons whom I knew had the appropriate expertise. I contacted my UK colleagues through the British Association of Plastic Surgeons.
To set up a rota of UK plastic surgical teams to come to Abbottabad to continue the work that I had started as the need would be critical for the next 3 months.
These goals were achieved and are summarised in my report of 31 October 2005 (appendix 1).
