7,354 is the best estimate of the number of patients who were standing in line for the BIG screening on Wednesday, August 28th.. In all of Mercy Ships history, this is the most patients ever seen on the initial screening of any field service. Of those, 6354 came through the next gate and of those 4236 were sent on through the next gate and were given patient cards to go through the final screening process. Prayer was offered for anyone not chosen for the final screening process. Some will be seen by the palliative care team.
4236 is further divided into 40% General surgery; 21% Orthopedic surgery, 16% MaxFax surgery, 15% Plastic surgery, 4% Women's Health surgery and 2% VVF or Obstetric Fistula surgery. Incredible numbers.
We left the ship for the screening site at 05:30 am and returned to the ship at 2030 or 8:30 pm. It was an exhausting, inspiring, heartbreaking, humbling, hopeful day for the 320+ crew working that day at the screening site. I was 1 of 18 people working side by side with a translator in the history taking area and I will see many of the same patients again as they are scheduled for surgery and come back through admissions the day before their surgery.
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| Standing in line |
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| Panoramic view of the line |
Waiting to see the doctor
I am working in the history taking area, taking vital signs after the paperwork is done
These are the kinds of problems we can help. . . . .
Rare for goiters to ever get this large in a developed country, but very common in Africa
The Africa Mercy crew! I am in a pink shirt 5 rows back from the front just to the right of midline
The Medical crew for Congo
