Emergency and Critical Care Capacity in Kono, Sierra Leone Part 2

Paul Sonenthal, MD

Fellow, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

PGY-6

April 24, 2019

Delivering a training session at
Koidu Government Hospital

My schedule in Kono District began each day at around 8:30am, when I would arrive at Koidu Government Hospital (KGH) for the morning report. This is the meeting where all of the significant overnight events in the hospital are reviewed by a team of doctors, nurses, and clinical officers.

Following the morning report, I would make myself available to the clinicians working throughout the hospital to discuss particularly challenging patient cases that fell within my specialty of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Additionally, I held meetings with key stakeholders from different parts of the hospital and health system to informally discuss my research project and solicit their feedback.

Each afternoon, I traveled to a nearby clinic and conducted a 90 minute training session for nurses and clinical officers on pre-selected topics, including managing patients with shock, and initial assessment of critically ill patients. Immediately following these sessions, I would then travel back to KGH to conduct a second 90 minute training session for another group of nurses, clinical officers, and physicians.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Kono District—I learned a tremendous amount and received valuable feedback that will help with my research. Also, I am incredibly grateful for the hospitality and support of everyone I met during this trip. I very much look forward to getting an opportunity to return to Sierra Leone in the near future.