Summary

When I left on 15th December 2005 after 2 relief trips the following had been achieved:

1 Operative facility established and used for 3 days at The Ayub Medical Complex (University Hospital), Abbottabad.
This facility was abandoned due to safety concerns following a severe aftershock. It is currently back in use.
Contacts made with:
Dr Huma Jadun – (Senior Consultant and co-charity worker with our team)
Mr Khalil Sattar (Industrialist and co-charity worker). Mr Sattar provided us with accommodation, transport, storage, vital personnel and made us very welcome.

2 Operative facility established and used at the Frontier Medical College (a private medical school run by Drs Khan and Shahina), for 9 days after leaving the damaged University Hospital.

3 Operative facility established for visiting UK surgeons at CMH Abbottabad.
This military hospital was key in providing care for the ensuing months after the earthquake. I operated here for my last week.
Contacts made with:
Col Amjad (Unit Commander)
Col Innayat (Head of Theatres)
Col Shafquat (General Surgeon)
Col Asim (Orthopaedic Surgeon)
Dr Samira Agarawal (Plastic Surgeon, Pakistan)
Dr Ayub Agarawal (Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, Pakistan)
These doctors had coordinated and  provided care prior to our arrival and were crucial in providing continuity of care and aftercare.

4 Tertiary referral base made at the CMH Rawalpindi. This is the regional plastic surgery unit and is run to a specification that is second to none by Col Mamoon – an internationally respected plastic surgeon and accomplished microsurgeon.
No such facility existed locally and these take years to establish. Col Mamoon kindly accepted for treatment patients that we had no way of treating in Abbottabad.


5 Operative facility established and used for 4 days at Women and Children’s Hospital, Abbottabad.
Contacts made with:
Dr Ghazala (Consultant and co-charity worker with our team)
Dr Amir (Senior Resident W&C Hospital)


6 Links established between the British and Pakistan Associations of Plastic Surgeons for reciprocal training and the exchange of knowledge (appendix 3).


7 PATIENTS TREATED

15th – 29th October 2005

100 in-patients
70 operative procedures

3rd – 15th December 2005
57 operative procedures

In a typical 4 weeks in the UK, I would expect to operate on 30 – 60 emergency and elective patients. The majority of the patients that we treated would have suffered amputation or severe disability and in most these sequelae have been avoided.

In parallel to this work, I participated in planning the wider strategy of our group. This consisted of ways to introduce much needed primary care to the se people, the establishment of a limb-fitting centre and the first steps to introduce the system of advanced trauma and life support training to Pakistan.

My own longer-term aim is to return to the area at regular intervals to train willing local doctors in reconstructive approaches to limb trauma. This will require building on the relationships made with local doctors, the British and Pakistan Association of Plastic Surgeons, Pakistan Government and Military Officials.

These projects continue.