One of the physicians in the pediatric department, Dr. Pam, has been such a servant, spending some of her time this past week cleaning out an equipment closet. The other day, she showed us the piles she had sorted and asked if we could figure out what equipment is still functional. It has been exciting getting to check out such a variety of equipment and see how it all works. Among the best finds have been a precision digital manometer (pressure sensor), and a half dozen or so BiliLight power adapters. Other gems were four syringe pumps and a dozen miniature ones. The past few days, during morning handover, I have heard a lot about failure to administer the right volume of fluids, whether it be too much, or not enough. Hopefully this equipment can be put to good use in the coming weeks.
(Carissa, aka Mrs. Claus, wheeling equipment from the closet to our office for inspection. With all the packages, basically it was like Christmas. Note also the makeshift wheelchair: local ingenuity)
Our job as engineers sometimes seems slightly removed from patient care, but in this case, it is a joy to be able to help out. The equipment is in the same building as the patients that need it, all that is lacking is the knowledge that is there, and the confirmation that it can be used. One other common problem that sometimes keeps equipment from being used is the difference in plugs.
To fix this problem, Dr. Pam provided us with a handful of British plugs (the kind used in Malawi) to be fitted onto several pieces of donated equipment. Because the equipment comes from all over the world, either plug adapters or power strips must be used, but these are often either not available or misplaced. If the device runs on a 230V power supply, we have simply been chopping off the inappropriate plugs and re-wiring the new ones so that each device can simply be plugged straight into the wall. This simple intervention takes less than five minutes for one of us to do, but it can transform a medical device from being unusable, gathering dust in a closet, to being invaluable, in its rightful place on the wards. At the same time, installing these plugs is a big enough barrier for one of the physicians or nurses that it hasn’t been done. It is rewarding to be in a position where my skills correspond with filling a need that will make a difference.
(The bag of Malawian/British plugs we have been installing onto donated equipment. In the background is one of the power transformers we modified.)