San Lucas 2024: Day 4 – An Anesthesiologist Nightmare

It was a regular Wednesday in San Lucas Toleman doing surgical cases when potential catastrophe occurred. Out of nowhere, the anesthesia machine started alarming with “no oxygen”. Of course, this is an anesthesiologist’s worse nightmare. Thankfully, the medical missions group operates as a cohesive team. Very quickly, everyone came together to solve the problem. The extra anesthesia staff came over to help, and we switched from using the anesthesia machine to manually hand ventilating the patient, using lower oxygen. At the same time, the circulator and nursing team were working with hospital staff to both find a new oxygen tank and a wrench they could use to open it.

Within minutes, we had a new oxygen tank. Due to the grit and strength of members of the team, we were able to successfully hook up the new oxygen tank and maintain anesthesia. Surgery did not have to be stopped, and the patient’s vitals were stable. We truly do not believe we would’ve been able to do this with without the teamwork that was present in the OR.