Heritage Snapshot: Part 89

Not only did the Loma Linda University Overseas Heart Surgery Team inaugurate heart surgery in Pakistan, but they also taught surgical techniques to scores of Pakistani physicians who had visited the hospital. The response in the professional community was amazing. “Our team’s work seemed to break through existing barriers of religion, nationality, and race,” Dr. Artress recalled. “We were accepted with little professional jealousy because no one else in Pakistan was doing similar work.” The team remained a few days following the last surgery on June 2 to provide intensive care until all patients had recovered. This gave them time to report their efforts to the nation from the United States Information Center. On that occasion, all Pakistani heart surgery patients were made members of Mended Hearts, Inc., an organization of former heart surgery patients. As the team prepared to leave Pakistan, prominent citizens of Karachi lauded them for their accomplishments. The president of the Pakistan Medical Association expressed profound admiration for the “miraculous success” of their efforts. Even Mohammed Ayub Kahn, the President of Pakistan, held a personal audience where he could express his appreciation. Before returning to California, the team performed more surgeries in India and Thailand, Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, South India (an interdenominational medical school), and Siriraj University Medical School in Bangkok, Thailand (a national university). Altogether they saw 400 Asian patients and performed 55 surgeries. The Loma Linda University Overseas Heart Surgery Team, a highly specialized group of heart surgery experts, has now performed surgery in Pakistan, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Greece, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Kenya, Zimbabwe, the People’s Republic of China, Chile, North Korea, and the Kingdom of Nepal. Wherever they go, they either initiate or upgrade open-heart surgery programs. Team members travel to countries where heart surgery has rarely, if ever, been performed. The team includes all the specialists and technologists required for the most delicate surgery, including cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, laboratory technicians, respiratory therapists, and heart-lung machine technicians. They take with them all essential equipment: sutures, medications, instruments, valves, a spare electricity generator. Everything, down to the last swab! Only the operating table and the patients' beds can be expected. This careful preparation has resulted in surgery success equal to that in the best surgery centers in the United States. By careful prearrangement, each member of a similar medical group from the local country works side-by-side with his or her American counterpart and learns the different technical skills and roles. They also discover how much teamwork is required. These successful new teams have been heartily appreciated by local patients and governments. In 1970, the team set up a heart surgery program in Athens, Greece, at the 1,500-bed Evangelismos Hospital. During the first five years of the program, more than 800 patients underwent heart surgery. In 1976, the Saudi Arabian Department of Defense invited the team to make two trips to Hamis Mu shayt, where they conducted the first heart surgery ever performed in Saudi Arabia—86 surgeries in four months. The Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force transported patients from all over Saudi Arabia for the life-saving surgery. Later, eight Saudi Arabian technician trainees spent 65 weeks at Loma Linda University Medical Center to enhance their clinical experiences. Over the years one of the greatest difficulties met by the team was finding blood donors. Because each surgery requires a minimum of six pints of blood, at least six donors are needed for each patient. In Saudi Arabia, blood initially was donated by the military, who were given days off for donating. Now, patients recruit donors for their own surgeries. Because finding donors is not always possible, team members routinely give their own blood. On many occasions one of the heart surgeons has temporarily left the surgery room, unscrubbed, donated blood, rescrubbed, and finished the operation—with his own blood.