Point-of-care ultrasound boosts humanitarian efforts in Iraq
FUJIFILM SonoSite has donated a point-of-care ultrasound system to CADUS, an independent aid organisation supporting the relief effort in Iraq. Dr Henryk Pich, an anaesthetist and emergency clinician at the University of Dresden and a CADUS volunteer, explains: “I was part of a team that visited the Al-Khansaa women’s and children’s hospital in Mosul shortly after the city was liberated from ISIS control.
Before the occupation, this was a well-equipped hospital offering a high standard of care. However, over 85 per cent of the building and its equipment were destroyed by ISIS during the military offensive to regain control of the city. The challenge now is to restore the hospital to its pre-war state.”
“I approached FUJIFILM SonoSite for help, and the company kindly donated a M-Turbo system for the hospital. Its small size, robustness and ease of use make it ideal for humanitarian relief efforts. The transducers are excellent, and it starts up very quickly – you can be scanning a patient just a few seconds after switching it on, which is important in a critical care situation.
I will soon be returning to Mosul to hand over the M-Turbo system to my Iraqi colleagues. While I am there, I will also run some training courses – FAST, lung ultrasound and regional nerve blocks – so that the hospital doctors feel confident using the system. It will make such a difference to the hospital and its patients.”
For more information about FUJIFILM SonoSite products, email eraf-sales@fujifilm.com.