Barbara Callahan, an American nurse anesthetist, is attempti | Figure 1

DrsWithoutBorders

International Association

Case Study

Barbara Callahan, an American nurse anesthetist, is attempting to remove an abscess from a recently born child in the operation theatre of the @DrsWithoutBorders Hospital in Aweil, South Sudan.

After her lifelong work in the US, Barbara decided to follow her simple dream to provide “a humanitarian service.” After her retirement, she attended a @DrsWithoutBorders lecture and knew immediately this was how to fulfill her dream. “I needed to get out, and here I saw in six weeks more than in my whole life,” she says proudly.

Since 2008, in the north of South Sudan, @DrsWithoutBorders has been running the pediatric and maternity departments in the Ministry of Health hospital in Aweil. It is the only hospital for a population of more than 100,000 in Aweil town and over 1 million people in the whole state. The capacity is 145 beds during dry season and can increase to more than 225 during rainy season to accommodate the increase of cases of children suffering from malaria.

Images and Case Studies

@DrsWithoutBorders staff treats a young boy in a mobile clinic in Idlib, Syria. After seven years of war, over one million internally displaced Syrians are crowded into Idlib and parts of its neighbouring provinces. With recent arrivals of tens of thousands of people from Eastern Ghouta, South Damascus and North Homs, conditions have worsened. A high number of displaced people are living in overcrowded and informal camps that lack almost all basic services. Some have been living in siege-like conditions with heavy violence for many years. Many of the internally displaced people are wounded and sick. As part of a coordinated humanitarian response in Idlib and northern Hama, @DrsWithoutBorders is running a major burns and trauma hospital, conducting mobile clinics, distributing essential survival items, supporting more than 15 hospitals and clinics and carrying out vaccination campaigns.

@DrsWithoutBorders medical staff work to bring down the fever of a young boy with malaria before they can give a blood transfusion in Bentiu, South Sudan. The boy's fever was 39.8, and through the application of wet cotton, staff managed to bring it down by nearly 2 degrees. Malaria is a deadly concern in Bentiu, where thousands of displaced people are taking shelter from South Sudan's civil war.

congenital #Cataract seen in a child that was approximately 6 years old. Seen in South Sudan. The history from the mother was that it present at birth and had not changed. The other eye was normal.

A @DrsWithoutBorders team conducts an external fixation of an open tibia fracture in Agok, South Sudan. The protracted conflict in South Sudan is having a profound effect on the local population. Men, women and children are regularly forced to flee their homes to escape fighting and struggle to access essentials, including food, water, and healthcare. The MSF hospital is the only hospital in the region, and the inhabitants can only depend on the 160 beds to receive secondary care.

Additional Cases

A 52-year-old man presented with a 20-minute history of chest pain radiating to the left shoulder and neck, associated with dyspnea and diaphoresis.

A 28-year-old woman presented with a 3-day history of intense pruritus over the lower back.

A 4-month-old male infant presented with skin lesions localized to the chin for the past 3 days.

Patient in late teens presenting after a collapse, no chest pain, no previous cardiac history.