Tools of the trade

By Jason
As much as we try to be minimalists here in terms of supplies and equipment in order to keep costs down, there are some things that are very hard to be without and still provide good quality medical care.  X-ray is one of those things.  Up until a few months ago, this 1978 model veterinary x-ray machine was providing the only x-ray capability we had at Kibuye Hope Hospital.

In addition to not having enough strength to do x-rays that require high penetration (chest x-rays, abdominal x-rays, spine x-rays), it was always tough to keep a good supply of the film and the chemicals needed to process the film due to shortages in the country.  But now, thanks to the generous donation of some friends, we have a brand new x-ray system.

  Not only does it have enough "oomph" to do all the x-rays we need, but it is also digital, so that there is no need to have film or chemicals to process the images.  This has given us a tremendous boost in the level of care we can offer here.  Below is a comparison of the old and the new.  The first one is a mid-shaft femur fracture in case you can't tell!