The Bovie

Working in an operating room can be quite challenging, especially when the equipment you need to complete a case  successfully is not working. This year the first case to be done was an orthopedic case to repair a broken lower leg. We had all of the surgical items in place, but when we tried to inflate the tourniquet ( necessary to control blood loss) the tourniquet would not work. We tried several things without success and were considering postponing the case until the equipment issue could be solved when Susie and Mike came to rescue, fixed the problem and we were able to proceed. Such a simple problem when you have resources readily available, but when you are in a palace like Tanzania you do not have the luxury of plentiful resources. By now most of you have seen pictures and comments about the bovie and are probably wondering what’s the big deal .The bovie is a machine that helps control bleeding by passing an electrical current through a small metal tip to cauterize blood vessels and, for want of a better word, searing them closed thereby stopping blood loss. It is difficult to do surgery when you do not have the capability of controlling the bleeding, so having the machine up and working is Hugh for all of us here. Now that these things are up and running ( and hopefully they will continue to do so) OR life has been preceding smoothly. It only takes the look of thanks on the faces one person who has been helped to know that this trip is worth its weight in gold!