2008-04-16 19:55:23 - Susan Shetter, RRT of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, traveled to Honduras for the ninth year with CAMO to train medical professionals in respiratory therapy.

SANTA ROSA DE COPAN, HONDURAS-Susan Shetter, RRT (Registered Respiratory Therapist), of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center traveled in February to Honduras for the ninth year where she volunteers with Central American Medical Outreach, Inc. (CAMO) in the Santa Rosa de Copan public health hospital.
Shetter found some old ventilators at a long-term center where she was Director of the

Respiratory Department. 'I did not want to discard them but looked for a place to donate them,' said Susan. After asking her sales reps, she found CAMO. Another CAMO volunteer and RRT, Tim Larson, said he would take the ventilators, but he needed help.
'Tim had his hands full with adults and newborns, but the babies in Lactantes (ward for infants from birth to four years old) were dying--sometimes four per month.' Tim, from Aultman Hospital in Canton, OH, started the ventilator program with CAMO in 1996 for adults and newborns. Nurses at the Hospital de Occidente Lactante ward told Susan they needed ventilators and respiratory education for the babies when she volunteered with CAMO in 2000.
'The children and infants did not have any respiratory help--no ventilators. Infants died of simple, reversible causes like asthma and pneumonia.' said Susan. 'I knew I had the old donated vents, but that was only the beginning. I had to get everything ready to teach staff, supply them, monitor and wean the infant before I could give them a ventilator.' The hospital staff is grateful for the respiratory education that Tim and Susan provide so lives can be saved every day long after they leave.
'In the Lactantes ward alone, 31 babies were saved in 2007 on those old ventilators.' Shetter said, 'To me, there is no greater blessing you can get.'
Larson gives several reasons respiratory education is so important in addition to providing respiratory equipment. 'It is very important for the staff to know how to use and troubleshoot problems with the ventilator equipment. Staff members also need to know how to properly monitor infants on ventilators and make appropriate adjustments when necessary. Too much oxygen for too long can cause blindness.' said Larson. 'We train the staff to use pulse oximeter monitors to give appropriate amounts of oxygen.'
'If we save one life, we made a difference in that family,' Said Tim. 'The doctors and nurses in Recein Nacidos (Neonatal Intensive Care) do the best they can with the resources they have. They do everything possible to save a baby's life.'
'Ventilator machines were not there before CAMO and wouldn't be there now if it wasn't for the presence of CAMO in the Hospital de Occidente,' explained Shetter.
Larson and Shetter continue to support the ventilator program every year by getting companies to donate new equipment, pulse oximeters and disposable supplies like ventilator circuits oxygen masks, life support manual resuscitators. Equally important are educational materials to train 150 staff members on compressor use (installed in October 2007 by CAMO) for breathing treatments to continue respiratory care when American volunteers leave.
Since 1993, CAMO has renovated the Hospital de Occidente, public health and community buildings and continually expanded to now offer 17 healthcare programs in Santa Rosa de Copan. CAMO, a humanitarian aid organization based in Orrville, OH, cares for more than 143,000 medical needs with an average of $2 million in donated medical supplies, equipment and expertise annually. CAMO, a 501(c) 3 non-profit, multiplies every $1 donated into $4.
To learn more about the caring work of CAMO, visit: www.CAMO.org