The other night, Ariana, our trilingual, patient-yet-firm brigade leader, asked us if we would be willing to make an after dinner house call. Bring your emergency packs and wear boots, we are walking there, she told us. Two drunk teens had collided while moped riding on a local “road”.  Although they lived close to each other as the macaw flies, their huts were accessed by divergent paths. We loaded our bags with supplies and split into 2 groups. Dr. Natalia and I teamed with pharmacist Michelle, who used to be an EMT. Andrew, Karen and nurse Bradley made the jungle emergency dream team.

Just a few words about amazing Ariana: the daughter of a surgeon with Doctors without borders, she is Honduran/French and was raised all over the world, only spending one year in the United States. Her English, French and Spanish are fluent, and her devotion to global healthcare is inspiring. She manages the logistics, the students, and the medical professionals with the perfect combo of sweet and firm. It’s not easy getting a group of college kids up and moving at 6:30am after a late night of bonfire partying. She cares about these patients deeply, and knows many community members personally. So when the locals asked her to send us on a house call, we jumped at the chance to help.

We set off through the mud and vines to reach our patients. The spiders definitely come out at night, and bat-sized moths were attracted to our headlamps. We crossed over 3 plank covered ravines before reaching our patient. Sugarcane alcohol and mopeds don’t mix well here.

Our shirtless patient was covered in abrasions and contusions (medicalese for road rash). His thumb looked broken, and his head abrasion oozed.  We irrigated and cleaned the wounds with the saline we carried in, putting a plastic bag over his bed. There was no sink or shower in which we could wash his wounds. We dressed the injuries as well as we could and started antibiotics and ibuprofen. The only medicine he had used prior to our visit was a muscle balm. We did our best and recommended an X-ray at the local subcéntro medical facility during daylight.

Andrew told me that the other patient looked equally roughed up, but both will heal with time. Actually, he told me they drilled a burr hole and put in s chest tube using only local plants, but I’m pretty sure he was exaggerating, slightly. Dr. Natalia assured us that this was a typical Saturday night in the jungle. Luckily, we will be back in Quito next Saturday, since we used up all our gauze dressings.

-Gail