“Your donation held us in good stead during the daunting struggle with COVID-19.”
Dr Lugano Wilson talks to Lifebox on the impact of a donation of 50 Lifebox-Smile Train pulse oximeters to care for COVID patients at the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH) in Tanzania.
Anesthesiologist, Dr Lugano Wilson talks to Lifebox on the impact made by a donation of 50 Lifebox-Smile Train pulse oximeters to the care of COVID patients at the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH) in Tanzania.
“Your donation held us in good stead during the daunting struggle with COVID-19. With your generous donation we were able to take care of COVID 19 patients
We received a donation of 50 pulse oximeters from Lifebox which was handed over to the department of anesthesiology and Intensive care units (ICUs). These pulse oximeters were sent to all operating tables and wards with COVID-19 patients, medical wards, surgical wards, private wards, pediatric wards, ICU, Critical care units, and labor wards. Yet several healthcare workers continued to demand for the device because they found that the Lifebox pulse oximeter readings were reliable as compared to other devices.
With the use of reliable pulse oximeters, we were able to monitor our patients intraoperatively and postoperatively, detect hypoxia, and save the lives of patients who would have otherwise died due to undetected hypoxia. Hypoxia is the leading cause of postoperative deaths and usually causes grave challenges when you are not equipped with reliable devices such as a pulse oximeter. The pulse oximeter helps us understand the level of desaturation before overt symptoms develop, thus simplifying our work and enhancing perioperative safety for our patients.
The donation came at an opportune time – when our country was struggling with COVID, and we had only a handful of healthcare providers who had access to such monitoring devices. At the time, the number of COVID-19 patients increased every day at BMH and almost every nurse and doctor who received the pulse oximeters benefited from the yellow colored, handheld device.
These pulse oximeters have also proved to be durable – so far I have not received or heard of any request for fixing. The pulse oximeters really helped us to take care of our patients and keep them safe. We would not have confronted the deadly virus without your generous support and thus, we thank you for your thoughtful gift.”
Dr. Lugano Wilson, Anesthesiologist, Benjamin Mkapa Hospital, Tanzania
Pulse oximeters are a critical tool in the detection and ongoing care of COVID patients. Yet many health systems lacked oximeters and sustainable oxygen supplies during the pandemic. Lifebox worked with its global network of partners to distribute more than 8,800 Lifebox-Smile Train pulse oximeters across 53 countries for COVID-19 patient care as well as supporting frontline providers with multi-language educational resources. Read more about pulse oximetry and COVID-19 here.
