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Forwarded from my intrepid friend Bud Busby, CRNA.....................
<busbyb@mercyships.org>
"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated"
I quote Mark Twain above as an acknowledgment that I have been woefully
out of touch with you all. Rather than a long explaination, suffice it
to say that I have had some serious spiritual continuing education
opportunities over the past year. I know that some of you are already
aware of some changes with Mercy Ships but I will do a quick review to
get everyone on the same page.
Both the Anastasis and the Caribbean Mercy are being retired. The
Caribbean Mercy is already sidelined in Gulfport Mississippi and the
Anastasis is currently on its last medical outreach in Liberia. On June
4, the Anastasis will come alongside the Africa Mercy in Ghana for a
"handover" ceremony. After that, we will be utilizing one ship, the
Africa Mercy beginning surgeries in Ghana June 15th. Initially we will
not be using all 6 operating theatres but will gradually get up to speed
as we get things sorted out with this new vessel. Even though we have
been doing this for 15 years or more, we still know that we can expect
some problems. We have tried to anticipate most of them but since we
have years of experience in this mercurial environment, we know enough
to start out a new venture conservatively and ramp up from there.
Staffing needs remain for April and May aboard the Anastasis so please
email me if you can help out. After that we will be communicating the
needs of the Africa Mercy as we know more. We will be well equipped at
the start after bringing the remainder of the anaesthesia equipment from
the Anastasis. We recently replaced the machines aboard the Anastasis
and will bring them up to standard again prior to placing them in
service aboard the Africa Mercy. Many of you may remamber that I was
raising money for this equipment and many of you contributed to the MDEA
account. I appreciate this so much and couldn't have brought this about
without these contributions. We were also able to set up the anesthesia
equipment at the Freetown Sierra Leone Fistula center. They are doing
cases that require more complex anaesthesia management in blocks
scheduled over two week periods. If any of you want to go there for a
solo adventure, I will be happy to get you referred to them just let me
know.
I do want to mention the biggest blessing of all which is two other
anaesthetists to come "aboard" and help. Raymond Broadbent CRNA came on
in January to fill in the gaps I had left and he will be doing a lot of
the administrative coordinating from Texas. Dr. David Walker from South
Africa is completing his Gateway training and will be full time aboard
the Africa Mercy starting in June. Please feel free to contact either of
them at the following email addresses.
raymond.broadbent@mercyships.org
david.walker@mercyships.org
Once again, I appreciate all of you and hope to be in touch or hear from
you. The adventure continues and to quote a friend of mine, "the deal's
on, it's just not what I thought". I am learning to hold my expectations
loosely and am grateful for you all sharing the load with us.
Blessings,
Richard Busby CRNA, MSN <busbyb@mercyships.org>
Director, Anesthesia Support Services
Mercy Ships International
Health Care Services
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