Unexpectedly, I needed the clinic today. Each week we have at least one need for the clinic just from our own visitors and crew. Today, unexpectedly, I became the most serious trauma case to date.
Lele pulled up with the tractor complaining about the mower. So, we got the mower off and the blades were really blunt. So we decided to remove and sharpen them. Seeing that they were so blunt that they were worn as smooth as a bald man's head, I took hold of the blade and applied the socket set. What I had not seen was that the blade had shattered on the other side and was sharper than a razor blade. The slice into my left palm was deep, and the pain shot up my arm.
With Lele and two of the new students watching the blood spurted, and started to pour. I immediately applied direct pressure and called for the vehicle to take me to the MoM Helen Himsworth Mini-Clinic on the other side of the airfield.
The option to got the nearest hospital, and taking a four to six hour round trip ran through my mind. However, Patricia opened the clinic and as I released the hand pressure over the sink - the blood ran thick, deep red and in rivers. It was probably the second worst cut I have ever had. In an ideal world I would reach for a suture, but we do not have sutures in stock yet. We only have the 3M brand self adhesive butterfly type stitches With the hand cleaned and the flap of skin and tissue looking like a fresh baby butterfly steak, it was time to try to get it all together. The first two butterfly stitches simply washed off as the blood oozed under their adhesive. A bit more alcohol to clean the skin and six more stitches applied quickly and the skin looked like it would hold.
Fortunately, we also have some op-site in stock, not only would it hold it all together, but also provide a sterile environment to the wound site - especially since the TV crew from ZDF Germany had just arrived too, and those blades needed sharpened still... and the show must go on! Two pain killers, a clean bandage over the hand and some tongue depressor splints to prevent the hand flexing... and the rest of the day ran as normal (but the ZDF film shows me with a big white bandage on my left hand!)
The availability of appropriate supplies, in a clean environment without the time delay, and associated risks, of getting to the nearest hospital, seems to have yielded a positive result once again.
The best moment came as I returned to the workshop and Deborah came up to me and stated 'You should have worn gloves - you need to remember your appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)! At least we provide practical training and real life incidents (but wish to avoid any more personal injuries!) and for a student from the village to have the confidence to tell me that I did it wrong, after less than three months, is amazing!
It is clear that the mini-clinic is going to be have a massive impact next year, as Marcel, and others, come out and provide the extra training to ensure that it provides a service to those in need in an even more timely and efficient manner.
Thank you to all who have helped get the clinic ready - I personally appreciate it today!
Lydia got to practice her ever improving first aid skills when I nicked my fingers in the workshop this week.
On Saturday, 13th October 2012, we had a very exciting event: the opening of the ‘Helen Himsworth Mini-Clinic”. Helen Himsworth, who sadly passed away last week, along with her husband, Paul, and their children has been a wonderful supporter of MoM, and we deeply miss her. 
The mini-clinic will function as a care facility for our AvTech students and local community and also as a training facility for first aid of non-life-threatening trauma. A number of very distinguished guests joined us in the celebration, and Dr Seth Fiadoyor, representing the Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority, from the VRA Hospital at Akosombo performed the ribbon-cutting to great cheers.
Prior to the ribbon-cutting, Patricia led the group in a tour of the aviation facilities. She also did a hugely impressive demo of bag drop from her aircraft flying at 200 feet in front of the excited audience with Lydia as Drop Master. The AvTech Academy girls, Beatrice, Juliet, and Lydia and put on a skit where they demonstrated their prowess in treating a well-simulated deep cut on Beatrice’s arm.
The clinic has already been used to deal with a couple of minor issues among the girls and members of the local community. We see that there is real value in having this facility as it provides an environment conducive to not only ‘fixing’ a problem but it also provides a calm environment where the patient receives good care as well as a thorough dose of appropriate health care education! There is a large multiplier effect as this knowledge spreads throughout our rural communities.
Deborah complained of a very bad stomach, and came to the mini-clinic. After a long chat and establishing that there was nothing major, we learned that had eaten some street food that was not well cooked and or hot.
When he arrived and we unwrapped his hand the wounds looked fairly minor, but one slice was a little on the deep side. The atmosphere here is rather dusty and particle filled. So, the first task was to wash his whole hand, clean the wound sites, irrigating out the debris and then to dress them, using suitable resources from the well equipped stores we have developped. It is a challenge to find somebody with the knowledge and experience in simple, non-life threatening, wound cleaning and dressing here, and this event is a clear sign that the mini-clinic is in the right place, at the right time. In many countries a colleague at work or a family member would have been able to dress a simple wound like this.... yet here, that skill is not yet developed and is part of our target development in the rural areas, where access to a clinic is not an option.
The assistants for the treatment were Lydia (an old hand at wounds!) and Beatrice (a new starter from Kete Krachi). They were thrilled to be able to help Martin, who has helped them both in the past. With his hand dressed and a big smile on his face, Martin went back to work. Meanwhile, Lydia started to explain the purposes of each item in the cupboards at the mini-clinic... a wonderful sight of peer-education at its best!
Finally in the mini clinic building we had toilets that self-filled and flushed... Then they burst and we had to mop up...
This is an ideal teaching opportunity. Lydia, always with a smile, is a happy subject and ready to be prodded and practised on. Yesterday we demonstrated the moulding of the new arm brace (and we can see the progress over the first one already!)
We use a number of drawings and pictures (snippets shown here) that show
situations that are then used in discussions. Interestingly, the image that
creates the most discussions is the photo of a workshop posed with a variety of
safety issues. Out of these discussions we then consider health and safety in
other areas of life, and quickly get some understanding that there is a lot we
can all do to reduce our risks and infections! The biggest issue here really is
'appropriate footwear' and the discussion about 'you know when you walk barefoot
in the market with the broken glass and old razor blades on the ground, in the
same dirt that children urinate in....' very slowly raises the concept that
there are a number of simple and affordable changes we can introduce to our
living and working styles to protect ourselves. 
Come to Ghana and you can try the acoustics in ours. 
Finally we start filling the cupboards... It its amazing how this picture represents several thousands of dollars of spending of your support.
We are not sleeping on the job. We are simply delivering new mattresses for the mini clinic accommodation and girls hostel...
The new girls are amazed that we provide a mattress, and that we do not put more students in a room than there are beds. 
With less than a week to the start of the new girls from the north we are busy finishing as much as we can in the mini clinic. It’s really starting to look like a clinic now that we’ve moved the exam tables and beds that Mr Solo constructed into the rooms. We expect to ‘officially’ open the clinic on October 13th, but will begin using it as early as the week of August 27th. This really is now an essential facility as we increase our activity, our scope and or partnerships. 
Just next door, in the same building, is the training centre, equipped with computers and a data-projector, donated through the amazing violinist, Francis Norman, and to be called ‘The Francis Norman Data Centre’ (with a Violin as a symbol). This building also houses a hostel room for up to 6 volunteers and/or community trainees to reside, in relative comfort, within the facility. It really will make a difference, especially once the aircon goes in. The data center will open for classes on September 11th. We may have our first hostel guests in September also.
The first dust devil of the season came through today, just as we were sorting out the supplies for the new mini clinic. Fortunately, some quick reactions stopped the supplies scattering! 
