Heading to VASTness

Canada is in a deep freeze with Halifax temperatures in the minus 20s including wind chill but it is bright and sunny.

In a few hours, I’ll begin my annual journey to teach in Rwanda. This will be my 12th visit because some years I’ve gone twice. For many reasons, this promises to be a special visit. My son Daniel and his friend Luke are joining me for the first 11 days. Daniel was in Rwanda 8 years ago when he was 16 and he has been wanting to go back for a long time. Michelle my dear friend, partner and Rwanda collaborator is back, this time with her husband Yvon. Our group will have a week of exploring Rwanda that culminates in Christophe’s wedding.

Christophe is a most wonderful young man who we met many years ago when he moved from his remote village to Kigali to look for work. He found a job cleaning in the  building where CASIEF (Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society International Education Foundation) has an apartment. Christophe spoke virtually no English or French but somehow his phenomenal dedication shone through. We found him to be highly trustworthy and a keen learner. A generous CASIEF volunteer paid for Christophe to attend university. It was an enormous struggle at first because of the language but over time and with incredible effort, those “Ds” turned to “As”. Christophe graduated with a degree in information technology a few years ago. He is now engaged to Solange, a high school teacher. We could not be happier to attend their wedding in his village.

After the wedding, we will get down to work and will be joined by more team members. Adam, is a bright, energetic anesthesia trainee who has come from Australia to spend a year as a Dalhousie anesthesia global health fellow. Adam has worked incredibly hard for the last six months, along with our Rwandan colleague Christian and me, to create the Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training (VAST) Course. This is 3 day course uses simulation to recreate an operating room, emergency department of hospital ward setting. With some basic equipment, iPads with SimMon software and well designed scenarios, we hope help anesthesia providers strengthen their skills in managing many of the most common clinical problems they face. In January, we are excited to offer the pilot version of the course. After making any needed adjustments, we hope to offer the course more widely.

Cover of one of the VAST Course manuals

In designing the VAST Course, we have been testing scenarios in both Rwanda and Canada to make them better. This involved a little role play…

Nurse Michelle helping simulated pregnant patient Patty

We will also be joined by a Dalhouse anesthesia resident, Stewart, and his wife, Allison, who is a palliative care fellow. There will be a few other special visitors as well.

I will do my best to post every few days but it always takes a bit of time to get technology up and running once we arrive. I plan to “gently coerce” my friends into writing a few blog posts as well. Former residents will remember the graded assertiveness.

I send very best wishes for a happy 2018 to you all.

with love,
Patty