Ray Emslie returned from Addis Ababa on 11th August after completing the second two-week stint at the Training-of-Trainers Programme at Tegbareid Technical College. Ray was also able to include a visit to a local hospital, which for the trainees was their very first experience of this environment from an engineering perspective. This is what Ray had to say about the visit:
"On my first day at the college I was introduced to Getachew and Melik. Getachew is a member of the senior college personnel and Melik a classroom assistant. At this first meeting I outlined my plans for the sessions and said that I would like to take the students to a local hospital, if possible. Not only was this met with approval, but also with (muted) enthusiasm. To my amazement this went entirely to plan. Don't be fooled by first impressions! The first Friday was the planned hospital visit. A college bus and driver was provided and we all duly arrived at Alert hospital. The hospital has its own biomedical department and several knowledgeable technicians. Hospitality on the part of the local staff was excellent and the students were arranged into small groups and shown equipment and the environment it is used. Trying to keep those students not engaged in an exercise together brings to mind the phrase 'herding cats'. No harm came of any equipment or student, I count this as successful. The visit was so beneficial that a second visit was arranged and further equipment seen. It was at this point I found I could assist the hospital. A couple of volumetric infusion pumps had been donated to the Intensive Care Unit without any supporting literature. The pumps are a model I am familiar with. After a short discussion with a doctor and the hospital biomed it was agreed it would be better if a pump was returned to the workshop. This way we could all remove ourselves from the patient area and all students and biomed staff could gain an insight to this product in a controlled way. The pumps was placed on charge and lunch was taken. After lunch we all looked at the pump and I was able to give an impromptu educational talk. I am pleased to say we successfully got the pump working and the hospital biomeds were left with a more comfortable feeling they could support the product. I took email addresses and said I would approach my old department in an attempt to secure user and service manuals."
CINOP and Tegbareid appear to be very happy with our contribution, so we hope that the experience can be repeated in 2018. Of course, anyone reading this who would like the opportunity of being part of this important should not hesitate to contact us, either by phone or through this website.