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Day 6 blog from Waikato medics in SamoaFour more Waikato Hospital staff who've been in Samoa all week as part of the New Zealand medical and support staff response to the tsunami, return home later tonight.They are Roelof van Dalen (surgeon), John Smithells (anaesthetist), Barbara Roberts and April MacFarland (both nurses). Orthopaedic surgeon Jason Donovan returned to Hamilton yesterday morning and spent the afternoon in one of Waikato Hospital's theatres operating on a patient. He said he was proud of the work the team did. Boosting the Waikato team in theatre all week was Auckland orthopaedic surgeon Chris Fougere and Canterbury plastic surgeon Jeremy Simcock. "We got on well as a team," said Mr Donovan. "We worked closely with the Samoan registrars and were able to introduce them to new plastic surgery techniques." Donations of orthopaedic gear from Synthes, an orthopaedic medical device company, means the Samoan medical staff now have access to top of the line gear they'd never had before. Watching the New Zealand medical teams at work meant they learnt a lot, he said. Waikato surgeon Roelof van Dalen is keen to see the Samoan medical staff come to Waikato once the tsunami medical recovery is complete so they can learn more technique. "Certainly they've made a lot of noise about coming over to Waikato and getting a bit more training." The rest of the nine-strong Waikato Hospital medical team, Janine Lee, Andrea Jarocki and Debbie Ratima (all nurses) and Alan Goodey (anaesthetist), will be back on Monday. One of Waikato District Health Board's health protection officers, Hans Buik, flew to Samoa on Thursday as part of the Ministry of Health's team on the ground helping Samoan authorities with public health initiatives. Blogs from each day the team were in Samoa are on http://www.waikatodhb.govt.nz/news/pageid/2145847317/Blog_from_the_Waikato_team_in_Samoa Day 6 Blog Date: 10 October 2009 Mary Anne Gill Director Media and Communications Waikato District Health Board P.O. Box 934 Hamilton 3240 Ph: 07 834 3684 Mobile: 021 705 213 |