One of my call day routines takes me to recycling bins on L&D, and occasionally the main OR. Once a sterile pack has been opened, the contents can no longer be used, even if not contaminated,the hospital figuring that it is cheaper to buy new than to re-pack and re-sterilize. But these supplies are not trashed, instead they are saved for overseas missions.
Last October I stopped by the OR on a Saturday morning, and seeing me, someone asked, hey Dr H. do you have [an emergency] case for us? No I said, just looking for supplies to take overseas. Hearing this, RN S.M. said, do you want to go to the Philippines? When? Late January. Sure, I said. And here I am, a member of the Go-Med surgical team to Baguio City, Philippines.Arrived Manilla Saturday, then 6 hr drive to Baguio City, over 300,000 at 5,000 ft, spread over several mountain ridges; today, Sunday interviewed and examined pre-op patients for Monday.
note: all patients gave explicit, written consent to be photographed before, during and after surgery.
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