Leavin' on a jet plane

I leave for Brussels today on the second leg of my little trip. I will be spending two days there before heading off for Rwanda. Of course there is volcano dust to negotiate around and the sketchy airline our travel agent booked us on between Toronto and Brussels.

I have attended the Global Outreach course in Halifax for the past 4 days. I can't remember attending such a great course which kept my attention for every minute even during the 9 hour days. It was great to meet people who had gone on overseas missions (hey I am no slouch, I've been to Ecuador 5 times). I have learned a lot of things that reassure me, a lot of things the scare me and a few things that depress me. I heartily recommend the Global Outreach course even for people who aren't doing a mission. Learning what you can do safely with less resources will make you a better anaesthesiologist.

This is the Glostavent anaesthetic machine. It runs on an oxygen concentrator or compressed gas. If the power fails it can run on ambient air. The ventillator can be driven with oxygen, air or manually. It uses 1/7 the tidal volume to drive the ventillator. If oxygen is used the oxygen is recycled. It uses a drawover vaporizer.

Price $17K

This is a drawover vaporizer which comes in a suitcase to take to where you are working. It comes with a self inflating bag so it can be used for spontaneous or controlled respiration. You can use oxygen or just room air. Price $5K.