MedShare International

Pictured: Eben Amstrong (far left) provides hands-on instruction to biomedical engineers and technicians.

From March 15-25, 2008, MedShare's biomedical engineer, Eben Amstrong, visited four hospitals in the Western African nation of Nigeria. He trained biomedical engineers and technicians at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Agbwu Hospital, and Agbani Hospital. While the primary purpose of the trip was instructional, Eben was also able to service numerous pieces of medical equipment during his visit. The frustrations that accompany unusable equipment reinforce MedShare's dedication to only send working, usable and requested supplies and equipment. A forty-foot MedShare container of medical supplies and equipment had arrived in the region in February, made possible through funding by Emory Healthcare and logistical support from the Nigerian Women's Association of Georgia (NWAG).

Eben led multiple training seminars at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, instructing over a dozen trained senior biomedical engineers and technicians from the area in planned preventative maintenance and troubleshooting hospital machinery. Specifically, he focused on repairing incubators, defibrillators, anesthesia machines, suction machines and colposcopes. The goal of the seminars was to establish a greater degree of self sufficiency, allowing the resident technicians and engineers to identify and correct technical problems on their own in the future. "As time goes on, we are going to maintain the equipment and supplies. That is a promise we are making," said one technician.

The staff members from all four hospitals expressed sincere gratitude for Eben's visit. "He ensured that the donated equipment was in good working condition. The technical team was so impressed by his knowledge and approach that everybody wished that he had stayed a little longer. Much of our equipment is yearning for his attention as biomedical engineering is not yet well developed [in our hospital]," said Dr. Ezugwu Frank, Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital.

Eben was pleased with the knowledge he was able to impart. "The hospitals I visited have good infrastructures and trained doctors but they're hard to equip. We need to continue to support them with supplies and equipment. Nigeria, with almost 140 million people, has the largest population in Africa, and I look forward to a continuing relationship between MedShare and this country," he said.