Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
In a single day one might debride an open fracture, skin graft a burn contracture release sustained by an epileptic patient who fell into a cooking fire while post-ictal, thyroidectomy, hysterectomy, and open prostatectomy on the elective “list”, interrupted by a C-section for a rupturing uterus in protracted late labor, and emergency trephining of an epidural hepatoma in a skull fracture sustained in a fall from a mango tree—all while entertaining “consults at the theatre door”—Pott’s disease, spinal TB osteomyelitis, typhoid fever with abdominal pain, Marjolin ulcer in an old burn scar, quadriceps pyomyositis as the initial presentation of AIDS (WHO stage III), plantar African melanoma.
In fact, this isn’t hypothetical at all; this is a record taken from the journal of Glenn Geelhoed MD, founder of Mission to Heal (M2H), dated July 21st 2009.
VOLUNTEER WITH DELIBERATION
Not only are the symptoms and diseases as diverse as the patients themselves, but the conditions under which the doctors have to operate are a far cry from what they have left behind in the first world. Makeshift buildings with windows boarded up in an effort to keep the flies out; potable water and electricity unticked boxes of a most basic wish-list.
Flying into these locations tears volunteer medical students out of their comfort zones, but at the same time, it is here where they will learn more during their short assignment than anywhere else.
Forty years ago, Glenn, unable to ignore the desperation of ethnic groups struggling to survive beyond any kind of infrastructure and without medical aid, knew he was capable of doing much more than just helping individual patients in the modern world.
So he took heed from the adage “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime“, and developed a cost-effective strategy how he could teach people to take care of their own, thereby reducing their dependency upon a system that was failing. This is just one example of how M2H effects change:
THE PROBLEM
The problem: Hernia. You may well think this isn’t a life-threatening problem and you would be right—in our world. Hernias are just one of those small inflictions which can be surgically remedied very quickly.
In the third world, people carry heavy loads of water every day—it’s not a case of if a hernia will occur, but when. Left untreated, a hernia can often become strangulated, ultimately leading to infection and death. An injury we hardly think about twice is killing countless people every year. Unnecessarily.
THE RESOLVE
The resolve: Glenn assembles his team and travels to the remotest of regions. His first task upon arrival is to ascertain who could be potential students and develop into caretakers.
Once a surgery has been prepared, he invites the students to attend the first operation where he demonstrates and explains the procedure. For the patients that follow, Glenn takes a step back and guides his students through the same procedures until they are proficient enough to work alone.
THE OUTCOME
The outcome: indigenous caretakers empowered with skills and supplied with equipment to continue saving lives after Glenn and his team have departed.
Throw a single stone in a lake and long after it has sunk beneath the surface, the ripples continue in ever-expanding circles.
RESTORE DIGNITY
Four decades; over 200 missions; locations as remote as the Pole of Inaccessibility in Africa, the conflict troubled region of South Sudan, the Philippines, Mongolia; in excess of 2,500 medical student volunteers (many of whom have returned for further tours); approximately 1,250 trained indigenous caretakers; hundreds of thousands of saved lives. All made possible by Dr. Glenn Geelhoed’s energy, determination and guidance.
M2H is entering a new chapter and preparing to take two large steps: Firstly, to build an executive team to coordinate missions, manage the supply chain, recruit volunteers, and generate sponsorship. Secondly, to grow a new fleet of Mobile Surgical Units (MSU) in close cooperation with Bliss Mobil (blissmobil.com).
BLISS TAKES MOBILE SURGERY TO A NEW LEVEL
When Glenn started looking for a manufacturer to build highly mobile surgical units, he sent one of his team to visit the 2017 Abenteuer & Allrad show in Bad Kissingen, where first contact with Bliss Mobil was made.
Bliss is renowned for their luxury cabins, incorporating every amenity an overlander may wish to call upon when away from civilisation, regardless of whether that adventure takes them to the Sahara or above the Arctic Circle. Best described as an all-in-one box incorporating all essential functions from electricity to water supply, the cabins are integrated into a container-style frame allowing them to be taken off the vehicle and either used completely autonomously as a stand alone unit, or relocated on another chassis—both criteria particularly apt for a mobile medical care centre.
DUE DILIGENCE
Bliss Mobil was founded upon a business with a wealth of experience in specialist manufacturing and is qualified to design and build an MSU from scratch; but still they chose to employ the assistance of a local university for some of the development projects. Of course, there were challenges along the way, but the intimate relationship between M2H and Bliss has meant (and I quote Glenn here), “some of the things I considered nice-to-haves, have been integrated into the unit in such a way as to exceed my wildest expectations.”
Fully aware of the harsh terrain and potentially hostile environments the MSU may encounter, every aspect has been taken into account to ensure the best operational capabilities and safety for the personnel; backup systems are in triplicate; even water can be harvested onboard from the powerful air conditioning and water filtration systems.
Carefully researched, Bliss determined the MAN KAT 6×6, with its military prowess, as the ideal vehicle to accommodate the MSU. Capable of travelling across the most technical terrain and with a healthy fording depth, even the most remote destinations are suddenly within grasping distance, allowing Glenn and his team to take the MSU to where it is most desperately needed—places no other mobile surgery can reach.
As with any vehicle, servicing the Deutz motor regularly and readily available spare parts are paramount to keeping the MSU mobile and available at all times. Deutz’s experience and their recently launched online global spare parts network guarantees fast response and short lead times.
Bliss Mobil have proven themselves an innovative partner, pushing boundaries to design and complete the first of at least five MSUs.
M2H is keen to put the vehicle into service and is already working together with the African Union to prepare the first missions to Zimbabwe and Ethiopia at the beginning of 2019.
GET INVOLVED
Mission to Heal has some important new projects planned for next year and needs your support: 12 missions to Southeast Asia and the Philippines, 18 missions to Africa. Glenn and his team look forward to your application as a volunteer. Donations are welcome. For more information, please visit www.missiontoheal.org.
This article was first published in the Summer 2018 issue of Overland Journal Europe.
