Guatemala 2020 – Medical mission Trip

This year, I once again returned to the Highlands of Guatemala for a 12 day Medical Mission trip. I once again served in the triage area.

The general flow of patients typically followed this pattern: The patient is seen by in-country staff outside the gates of the compound and is given a wristband that is color coded and coincides with what they want to be seen for. Many individuals have numerous issues they would like to be seen for. To be as fair as possible to everyone who is seeking care, we attempt to see people on a first come, first served basis with a focus on their main complaint. (This year, we saw patients for: General Medical, Dentistry, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Ophthalmology and Plastic Surgery.)

Patients are then allowed inside the gates in groups of about 10 or 20 people. Patients proceed to the triage area, where paperwork is completed, blood pressures and other vital signs are taken and the patient’s chief complaint is recorded.

Next the patient is seen by a clinic doctor who either is able to treat the patient or makes a referral for surgery. (whether a patient is able to have surgery is dependent upon which specialties of doctors are with the group, the age of patient, the available space in the surgical schedule for the week) If a patient is not able to be seen by our group, every effort is made to refer the patient to a later team or to obtain a referral for the patient to be seen in Guatemala City at one of the hospitals there.

There is a lot of need in the area where we went. This year: 969 people were seen in the general clinic, 178 surgeries were performed, 89 dental patients were seen (most with multiple procedures), 40 stoves were installed by the community development team and 2020 meals were prepared and served by the kitchen staff to the team volunteers.

To see a Facebook video of the work site, please click on the following link. (Be sure to turn on the sound!)

https://www.facebook.com/JonsDIYLife/videos/3443975505618725/