NEWS: The first Glostavents go into Liberia

Publication date: 2 Apr 2008

In 2007 Dr Keith Thomson, consultant anaesthetist and Vice-Chairman of Mercy Ships UK, came to see the Glostavent® at Royal Gloucester Hospital.  He was so impressed by its suitability for those working in challenging environments that he purchased three Glostavents for Liberian hospitals.

Liberia, only recently recovering from a lengthy civil war, is just the sort of environment which the Glostavent® was designed for. "We were delighted to see the Glostavent® going to Liberia", said Robert Neighbour of Diamedica. "Although we have sent Glostavents all over the world, we knew that Liberia would prove to be particularly challenging due to the vagaries of the power supplies. Whilst we were confident that the Glostavent® would provide a much needed source of reliable, economical anaesthesia and do the job, we were also hoping to be able to gain valuable feedback about its performance there."  "Diamedica bases all of its research and development on the feedback they receive from the end users, medical and technical. There is little point in us sending equipment out to difficult settings if we are not prepared to take on board any new challenges", said Richard Tully, who went to Liberia to set up the Glostavents and provide training in their use.

 

The Glostavents went to three hospitals: Redemption, Phebe and JFK, through the Mercy Ship AV Africa Mercy which was kind enough to organise accommodation and travel for Richard during his stay. "Not everything ran smoothly on this trip", said Richard. "The feedback we received, and what I observed whilst training, prompted Diamedica to put a much more powerful UPS on the Glostavent allowing it to be able to cope with the much wider voltage range found in Liberia. The Liberian UPSs were replaced and the upgraded version is now standard on all Glostavents."

 

 

"There is no doubt Liberia is unique, even in Africa, but the Glostavents are up and running and saving lives", said Richard. "I look forward to accompanying Dr Thomson there in the future for further training."