Operation Open Heart

Health

An Australian medical team saves lives in Tonga.

A VOLUNTEER heart team from Australia’s Sydney Adventist Hos pital completed 17 life-saving op erations in Tonga in 1987 as phase two of a three-pronged attack on heart disease in the South Pacific. The project has been named “Operation Open Heart for Tonga”. Fifteen other patients received urgently needed surgical help during the team’s first visit in 1986.

Congenital heart defects and rheu matic heart disease are major problems among the Tongan population and in the past very little could be done to assist those who were stricken. Rheumatic heart disease is the consequence of infection with common bacteria, and it affects the hearts of people in their teens.

The disorder often results in severe dis ability and early death. Common symp toms of rheumatic heart disease are breathlessness and an inability to exercise or perform everyday activities. Teenagers cannot attend school or participate in nor mal activities, young mothers are unable to care for their children, and young men are unable to work.

Setting up the volunteer heart team op eration was not easy. Although Tonga’s government hospital in Nuku’alofa is well constructed and has good basic facilities, it was not equipped for the advanced sur gery performed by the Sydney Adventist Hospital team. Much additional equip ment had to be installed to allow cardiac surgery to take place.

Transporting the medical/surgical team and necessary specialised equipment to Tonga was a major exercise. Several tonnes ($A400,000 worth) of specialised equip ment, oxygen cylinders, drugs and dispos ables were shipped to Tonga most carried free by the Royal Australian Navy.

Several Australian medical corpora tions lent $150,000 worth of diagnostic and monitoring equipment to the team. Oth ers donated $lOO,OOO worth of disposable equipment. One manufacturer donated $lB,OOO worth of artificial heart valves; another, $15,000 worth of surgical instru ments; yet another company gave $20,000 cash. Besides corporate donations, indi viduals have contributed a total of $150,000 since the “Operation Open Heart for Tonga” appeal was launched.

The volunteer team on the most recent visit to the island comprised 52 medical, nursing, technical and support personnel.

Not only did these volunteeers donate their time to the project, but they paid their own air fares as well.

Not all 52 team members were in Tonga

at the same time. Some were part of an ad vance preparation team, some replaced team members unable to stay for the two weeks of the surgery program, and others completed the packing of the equipment after the visit.

The 17 heart surgery patients ranged from a three-year-old girl with a congeni tal heart defect to a 73-year-old man who was fitted with a pacemaker. However, most of the surgical recipients were in their teens and 20s.

One 14-year-old boy had severe dis eases in two heart valves. He had wasted to half his normal weight and could no longer attend school or play. He received two of the donated artificial valves.

Another patient, a 34-year-old mother of five, had her mitral valve replaced. She had been unable to do her housework and had spent long periods in hospital over many years. Another 18-year-old girl, whose mother had died from rheumatic heart disease and had herself been very ill with the same condition, had her valve re paired and now lives a normal life.

Six weeks after the surgery, heart team co-ordinator Dr John Wallace went to Tonga for a follow-up visit. “To see patients who six weeks before had been extremely sick doing well and participating in nor mal activities such as playing, attending school, and caring for children, was most rewarding,” Dr Wallace said.

“Doctors and nurses at the hospital ap preciated the opportunity to work with team members and to learn new skills.

Equipment installed at the hospital had been left in Tonga and has already proved invaluable in patient care there. The im petus given to Tongan public health edu cation programs on heart disease has been considerable,” said Dr Wallace.

Already the government of another South Pacific island has sought the help of the Sydney Adventist Hospital heart team.

However, the task currently being tackled by the team is to bring six Tongan children to Australia for treatment. These children all have complex congenital heart defects requiring special tests that could not be done by the team in Tonga. Now the team is faced with raising the funds needed to pay for these children’s treatment. It will cost the team around $5,000 each child’s operation, plus accommodation expenses.

What you can do to help Your donation can help the volunteer heart team. For information write to Sydney Adventist Hospital, 185 Fox Valley Rd, Wahroonga, NSW Australia 2076. □