Surgery

Fieldset

Surgery

From urgent surgery after a bomb blast in a war zone to emergency caesarean sections for women with complicated deliveries, our skilled surgical teams perform tens of thousands of life-saving operations every year.
The work falls into four major categories: infection/wound surgery, war surgery/major trauma, obstetric surgery and specialised constructive surgery.
Equipment and anaesthetic drugs vary according to the nature of the project. Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) surgeons and anaesthetists may find themselves working in a state-of-the-art facility, a mobile surgical unit or a temporary inflatable hospital.

David Lauter

Surgeon

Goodbye DRC

It’s just after midnight in Rutshuru. Tomorrow morning Dr. F, the French anesthetist who arrived here with me, and I leave for Goma.

29 Apr 2013 / 4 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

It’s early evening and beginning to rain. It was warmer than usual with a clear sky all day until dusk.

26 Apr 2013 / 5 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

My youngest daughter is a big fan of the Hunger Games novels. I am reading them on her recommendation and finished the second book in the trilogy this past week.

24 Apr 2013 / 5 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

In one of my early blogs here, I mentioned two children with burns, a 21-month-old with burns over 20% of her body surface and a 10-year-old wit

22 Apr 2013 / 5 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

So far I haven’t posted anything about my living conditions in the DRC. They are not that different than what I blogged about on my last MSF mission.

19 Apr 2013 / 8 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

It’s late in the evening and I’m on call overnight again. After a busy day in the operating room (OR) there hasn’t been much activity since 9pm.

13 Apr 2013 / 6 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

One of the things I like about being a surgeon is that the primary objective of my job is to help people.

12 Apr 2013 / 5 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon here. It’s been a week since arriving here and I have more or less fit into the rhythm of the project and the hospital.

07 Apr 2013 / 8 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

It’s Sunday, early evening in Rutshuru, and I am on overnight call at the hospital. It’s cooling down outside, my guess to about 67°F, and the sky is turning a reddish hue in the west.

07 Apr 2013 / 2 minute read

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Surgery