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First Time Volunteer

Blog submitted by Mr. John Brookes

Mr. Brookes is a volunteer ophthalmologist from the United Kingdom. This is Mr. Brookes first time volunteering with ORBIS.

Having just returned from my first ORBIS program in Dalian, China, I would like to thank the whole ORBIS team for making this an incredible personal and professional experience in my career to date.

I have been involved in several charities over the past 10 years; I try and spend at least 2 weeks each year doing some surgical work abroad and this has taken me to India, Palestine and Egypt on many occasions. Having received several invitations over the past two or three years to take part in an ORBIS program, in my specialty of pediatric glaucoma, I finally succumbed. Admittedly, because first of all, I’ve never visited China before but secondly, I have always been an airplane fanatic having obtained my private pilot’s license in 2004. I was obviously very excited therefore of combining my love of ophthalmology and my interest in all things airborne!

I was incredibly surprised however at the size of the city of Dalian when I eventually arrived. Having never heard of the city before, I expected something a little less enormous. The people were incredibly warm, generous and grateful for all that we were able to offer.

I met my hands-on trainees on the screening day at the base hospital, He Eye Hospital. They were incredibly eager to learn with a constant stream of questions and never seemed bored with my endless lectures, videos and other teaching material.

Following the screening day, I spent the next two days at the base hospital with my hands-on trainees, carrying out glaucoma and cataract surgery on the patients we had identified on the screening day. I was however, extremely anxious to get onto the plane!

The fourth day arrived and I was at last going to board the iconic ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital at Dalian airport. From afar, I could see its majestic outline and the characteristic livery. Boarding the plane for the first time was a truly memorable experience. All my childhood dreams had come true. I sat in the captain’s seat and the maintenance engineer gave me a truly extensive tour of the plane, even going into the bowels of the plane beneath the cockpit and seeing the miles upon miles of electrical cables and wiring, which somehow get this plane in the air.

Setting my excitement aside I had to go into the operating theatre for my first experience of ‘live surgery’, broadcast to the 30 local doctors sitting next door in the lecture room. Fortunately, all went well with the surgery and I ended up quite enjoying myself.

The rest of the airplane was truly amazing; state of the art operating theatres, clinic space and audiovisual equipment we could only dream of at home! Overall, I had a wonderful experience as a medical volunteer and I would like to thank all the staff who organized these programs, which must require so much background work to have them running so smoothly.

Of course I would like to do another mission…..perhaps next time I could fly the plane?

Photo by Perry Athanason

Niger – A Program of Many Firsts

Blog submitted by Jacqueline Newton

Jackie is a Staff Nurse on the Flying Eye Hospital and has been a member of the crew since June 2008

When I think of Niger I am reminded of the first time I flew in to Niamey, it was beautiful, the dry desert with a trail of green along the Niger River. Climbing off the plane the heat seemed to cover you like a blanket.  

The construction of a new theater complex at the Niamey National Hospital was in progress but when I arrived the week before our program began, it was complete and the hosts were keen to use this complex during the upcoming Flying Eye Hospital program. The goal was to transform a brand new unit into a fully functional operating theater complex by the time the rest of the Flying Eye Hospital team arrived. It took hours of instructing and guiding the local staff in the development of their complex, which involved gathering theater equipment and supplies, as well as training of the local staff in aseptic technique.  

One of the days was allocated to cleaning and disinfecting the theater complex, it was at this time I realized the need for just the basics such as clean cloths, mops and disinfectant. There was no shortage of ophthalmic instruments but it took 2 days to sort through them all and organize them into instrument trays. Besides many other trays, 3 complete cataract sets were made up and were going to be used during the ORBIS program. By the end of the week not only did I feel I had bonded and won the trust of the local staff but that they and the theater complex were ready for the first surgery day.  

It was 8 days after I arrived that we had our first surgery day, which turned out to be a great success. After the first case, a huge feeling of accomplishment and a sense of pride and excitement about the potential of their new theater complex were felt by all the local staff. Another 5 days of surgery were successfully carried out, but my concern was whether the staff were going to keep up the management of the complex and continue to perform the skills that had been taught them during the 2 week ORBIS Nurse Training Program.     

Eight weeks after the Flying Eye Hospital program, I returned to Niger to take part in a hospital based program, run at the new theater complex, and it was at this time that I realized the importance of the Hospital Based Program. Although many other surgeries had been carried out since ORBIS had left, I spent another week instructing the local staff on the management of an operating theater unit and reinforcing the skills taught during the ORBIS Nurse Training Program.  

By the end of the Hospital Based Program I felt that the theater complex was left in the capable hands of the local staff determined to keep up the good work!

Photos by Perry Athanason