To our friends at MedCap® Scrub Hats,
I just wanted to write a quick Thank You for your donation of Scrub Hats for our Surgical Mission to Guatemala.
Our team from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia consisted of three surgeons, one anesthesiologist, one CRNA, three nurse practitioners, 12 nurses and three volunteers. In under a week we were able to complete 70 pediatric surgeries while working with Partner for Surgery in Guatemala City.
Since its creation in 2001 Partner for Surgery has helped thousand of impoverished Guatemalans receive access to health care. Partner for Surgery is a unique organization in that it focuses its attention of the rural pediatric population in Guatemala, patients who are often outside the reach of other organizations.
In rural communities where jobs and transportation are scarce many people are frightened of doctors and lack them means to reach one.
Partner for Surgery works with Surgical teams from the US and across the globe to begin life-changing surgical and interventional care to the underserved communities and helps communities to strengthen their own health care systems.
Many of the children we worked with through PFS travel from many hours away to receive surgical care and thus are often extremely unfamiliar with Westernized medicine and surgery. The sterile rooms, standard issue scrubs and masks that we are so used to wearing can be frightening and overwhelming for the entire family but especially for the children, many of whom have never been in a room without a parent or sibling with them at all times.
Matt; one of our OR nurses on the trip said this about the children we met, “I am amazed at how brave these children are here. They walk into a big OR, surrounded by adults who have masks on, don’t speak their language, without their parents and without any pre-medications to keep them calm. Yet the majority of the children don’t cry at all and many even keep smiling! It is beautiful.”
We know that our colorful and fun scrub caps helped make us more approachable to the patients and families we worked with. The fun patterns and colors made the kids’ smile and the staff at the Moore Pediatric Surgical Center that we worked at were thrilled with their new hats that we left when the mission was completed. We thank you so much for your donation and for helping our team and the patients we worked with. We know that these hats will be used by many surgical teams who come through this facility to work with PFS and the Moore Foundation for years to come.
Muchas Gracias and Many Thanks to you all.
Jenna RN, BSN, CCRN
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia