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Mission Report: Guayaquil, Ecuador - 2009

Between March 22 and 29, the GSF team was working at the Roberto Gilbert hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Our team members have been collaborating with this hospital for the past 22 years providing care for underserved patients with cleft deformities.

Our team consisted of: 3 Surgeons, 4 Anesthesiologists, 3 OR nurses, 2 PACU nurses, 1 Peri-operative staff, 1 Pediatrician, 1 Speech Therapist, 7 local translators, 1 Biomedical Engineer, 1 local coordinator, and 2 Administrators

Working together we were able to accomplish the following:

• 110 cleft lip and palate patients screened
• 51 cleft procedures were performed on 45 patients
• 42 patients received surgical care under general anesthesia
• 3 patients received surgical care under local anesthesia
• 45 patients received speech therapy sessions

In addition to our commitment to surgical care, our speech therapist followed up with our patients: Screened all 110 patients to assess need for speech intervention

• Completed individual speech treatment for 15 children
• Educated parents of 30 children on strategies for speech stimulation in the home
• Consulted with local medical staff to arrange follow up speech therapy and orthodontic consultations

In tandem with our commitment to improving health outcomes, we delivered the following education seminar:

• the surgical, anesthesia and speech therapy staff delivered 3 lectures to the local medical community
• The GSF team provided hands-on training throughout the surgical week, and local surgeons assisted and observed all procedures

We also donated some medical equipment:

• Three Anesthesia Monitors:
• Marquette Eagle 4000
• Datex Capnomac
• Ultima type
• Ohmeda RGM
• Variety of surgical and anesthesia medications and supplies

These efforts allowed us to establish a cooperative network with local surgeons and a local orthodontic foundation to continue providing orthodontic to our cleft patients throughout the year