I participated as a surgeon in a cardiosurgical mission in Laos last year. On the first day, we selected the patients who could be cured with a single surgery. The children were scared of a possible surgery and the parents were scared that the kids would be sent home without being treated. After selecting the patients, we operated one week in a row, every single day from morning until late evening. Everyone from our team was absolutely concentrated, because with the limited availability of blood products, no mistakes were tolerated. I tried to capture the atmosphere of this unique experience.
I used to think that cardiosurgical missions in developing countries make no sense. Only a few children get treated and the costs are very high. Spending the same amount of money for antibiotics would save more lives. I participated myself as a surgeon in such a mission last year. This experience made I realized that a child with a congenital heart disease has the same right to be cured as a child with an infection. We were in Laos for a week and we could only treat a limited number of patients. The day we came, there were crowds of mothers waiting for us. Based on heart ultrasound, we selected the patients who could be cured with a single surgery, because there was no second chance. One could see very strong emotions during the selection process. The children were scared of a possible surgery and the parents were scared that the kids will be sent home without being treated. After we had selected the patients, we operated one week in a row, every single day from morning until lated evening. Everyone from our team was absolutely concentrated, because with the very limited availability of blood products no mistakes were tolerated. In one case, our anesthesiologist had to donated blood during the surgery in order to save the patient's life. We managed to help 17 children who would have eventually died without treatment due to heart failure. I tried to capture the atmosphere of this unique experience.