Karen's Rus Rus Report #8: Adventure In Puerto Lempira

Departing Rus Rus In The Cessna 206
Wes and I departed Rus Rus in the Cessna 206 a little after 8AM, Friday. We were transporting a 24-year old man to the hospital in Puerto Lempira to keep an appointment with the IHS surgical team. This is the young man who'd arrived at our clinic Monday with complicated, infected drainage from an earlier surgery needing to be re-opened and repaired. We'd been trying to get him worked into the IHS surgery schedule since he'd arrived and today was the day.

After take-off from Rus Rus, looking back at the airstrip and hospital.

Photo credit to: John Ford

The flight went fine and we landed at Puerto Lempira (PLP) without incident. Even though PLP is a "major" airport in Honduras, the runway is dirt and it's not uncommon to have animals, foot, or vehiclular traffic cross the runway while airplanes are landing. (More on THAT later!)

Landing at Puerto Lempira. 

Photo credit to: John Ford

The airport terminal at Puerto Lempira.

Photo Credit: John Ford

Arrival in Puerto Lempira (PLP)
We were met at the terminal by two men from the IHS Team. Their role was one of logistics. They carried fuel for the airplane in their pick-up truck and they transported patients from the plane to the hospital and back. Wes needed to fly to another airstrip to pick up four more patients so he sent me into town with the IHS guys and the Rus Rus patient, promising to come back and find me once he returned to PLP! So...there I went into PLP hoping Wes would come back and that he would be able to find me! It wasn't long before the IHS guys dropped me off at the hospital with our patient. Of course as the IHS guys drove off they said they'd come back to find me.

So there I was...dropped off by my pilot, left behind by the IHS guys, standing in the dirt street (all the streets in PLP are dirt) outside the hospital compound with a patient in need of surgery who speaks Miskito, in a town that speaks Spanish, with me speaking English.

I'd say that your average American would think the hospital looked more like a run-down, low-budget motel than anywhere medical practice, much less surgery, would ever take place.

Karen The Patient Advocate
Our patient had no idea what to do next. He was from the jungle and this was the Big City. I didn't know what to do next. This was Honduras and I was from the US. But he was a patient. I was a nurse. We were at a hospital. There's something natural about that regardless of where a nurse is in the world.

We were able to get directed outside the building to what we learned was Registration (an open window across the way) and eventually completed that first step of the process. Then we were sent back inside to where we'd started and they weighed him and took his blood pressure.

From there a nurse led us around various body fluids on the floor, past all of the bed sheets hanging on rods beside the beds, and down a somewhat scary hallway into what I took to be a pre-op room. I could tell there was confusion in the hospital staff as to why our patient was in their hospital and that they weren't exactly sure just what they were supposed to do with him. At that point I stepped into the discussion and was able to get them to understand: "I-H-S". Then they smiled and nodded and located one of the IHS surgeons who came to meet us. The surgeon was very nice and spoke English. At that point, seeing he was in good care I said goodbye to our patient and he left with the surgeon. Satisfied everything was finally as it should be, I went back outside so I'd be easier to find (should Wes or the IHS truck crew ever come back looking for me.)

I was only out there a few moments when our patient returned to me with several papers in his hand. He showed them to me like I should know what they were. After a few moments, I figured they were orders for lab work. That meant we were headed outside on another adventure through the hospital compound--this time looking for the lab. The hospital is a campus of several buildings with exterior doors having department or office titles over them. I remembered enough Spanish to decipher most of the titles and led our patient to the lab. He waited while I scouted it out, worked out the procedure, and got him inside where he needed to be. He was brave during the blood draw. I joked with him (English to Miskito, American to Honduran) to help lessen his nervousness. He was a good sport and seemed to be in good hands in the lab, so we parted there and that was the last I saw him.

Doesn't That Sound Like A Cessna 206?
When I heard a Cessna 206 fly over I figured it was Wes and returned to where the IHS guys had dropped me off. Shortly after that Wes and the IHS guys arrived with the 4 new patients needing surgery.

Off To The Market
Wes and Denise buy their groceries here in PLP. Wes took me on a short tour. We visited the Catholic Church where the IHS surgical team was being hosted, walked to the wharf to see fuel drums being unloaded (this is where Wes gets his fuel for the airplane and generators), and picked up the groceries that Denise needed. Shopping in PLP was a bit of a different experience for me, but you know, if I knew where I was going, I believe I could be comfortable shopping on my own there.

 

Workers "herd" fuel drums to the beach.

All In A Day's Work
As we hiked back to the airplane, Wes shared that on his return flight to PLP, he'd just touched down on the runway when he was forced to avoid a pick-up truck that suddenly darted across the runway in front of him and then had to avoid a bicyclist crossing the runway before safely bringing the 206 to a halt. Thankfully, our take-off didn't contain any of the drama of the previous landing!

One of the many families living at Rus Rus while waiting for treatment.

More Patients Needing Air Transportation
We arrived back at Rus Rus, had lunch, and then Wes needed to fly three patients up to the hospital at Ahaus. One of the patients had a broken jaw. Another was suffering from severe abdominal pain and had been carried to Rus Rus on a makeshift litter by eight men. It had taken them two hours of hard walking to carry him to Rus Rus. Wes returned to the cockpit to do the flying and I returned to our hospital to sort and file patient records.

Thanks for your continued prayers for me, our other MAG missionaries (Wes, Denise, Carlos), and the IHS team serving here in Rus Rus!

• To help MAG's efforts in Rus Rus by giving a donation, please click HERE.

• To learn more about Missionary Air Group, please click HERE.