New Medical Sites Open in Papua New Guinea

After five days of care in the stifling heat, and nearly 6,000 patients treated, the Pacific Partnership 2011 medical team’s time at the Wamper medical site in Papua New Guinea came to a close. Volunteers will remember the friendly and grateful patients at Wamper, who made it a priority to shake hands with as many medical professionals as they could as they left the site, and thank them for all the hard work.

But just as the Wamper site closes, two new medical sites opened up in Tent City and Malahang.

The medical team split into two groups and both were greeted with just over a 1,000 people waiting in line for care at the two new sites.

At Tent City, Project HOPE volunteers, Dr. Alan Jamison and Dr. Lee Shoop were hard at work. “We saw a lot of people with back pain today,” Dr. Jamison says. “We also saw a lot of people with fevers, and quickly started treatment for malaria to be on the safe side.”

When Dr. Jamison was working at the Wamper site, he had the opportunity to visit a nearby school for disabled children to provide care and health education. “After witnessing the results of cerebral malaria, I understand the importance of treating malaria quickly,” he adds.

In addition to anemia, and a few TB cases, the doctors also had cases they would rarely, or if ever, see in the United States. A child was brought to the clinic who suffered from a head injury after a coconut landed on his skull.

“The knowledge of medical care is strong in the community, and most of the children we treated today were in good health,” Dr. Jamison adds with a smile. “In addition to care, we also had then opportunity to meet and work with the local medical staff and nurses.”

By the end of the day, the medical staff treated 725 patients. “Today was a good day, at a new site,” Dr. Shoop says. “The lines were long and the need was great, but everyone was welcoming, just like at Wamper.”