American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2016 - 15
Figure 1: US medical team (from left): Gregg Kowalzcyk (Sonosite
Territory Manager, South Florida), Oscar De Leon Casasola, MD; Alexandru
Visan, MD; Brian Osman, MD; Andres Missair, MD (meeting chair). Photo
taken at the UNICEF headquarters in Havana, Cuba.
to a January 29 launch. Blinded by optimism, we began the
daunting task of securing official Cuban visas for the American
faculty, customs entry authorizations for more than $200,000
of ultrasound equipment (for which I was kindly informed to
be personally liable), travel authorizations from our employer
universities, and liability agreements with the ultrasound
equipment manufacturer. After signing the equivalent of a
variable-rate home mortgage in paperwork, we set out to secure
the necessary supplies.
For those who have never visited Cuba, the romanticism of
history and an idyllic Caribbean setting can obscure a stark
reality: Everything in Cuba can be difficult. Compounded by years
of embargo, even simple household items such as toothpaste
and toilet paper can be difficult to source. Furthermore,
Cuban physicians earn about $40 per month, and most Cuban
organizations operate on a shoestring budget. There would be
no financial or material support for our venture. The inevitable
conclusion was that the conference would have to be free to all
attendees and all supplies provided and transported from the
United States by the volunteer faculty themselves. There went our
luggage carry-on allowance! The ultrasound equipment for the
workshops was generously provided by Sonosite's Global Health
Department, which supports educational missions around the
world. Two EDGE ultrasound laptops and two M-TURBO ultrasound
systems were delivered with 12 probes of various sizes and
frequency ranges. Given the very real risk of having equipment
impounded or lost once in the field, the decision was made to
take only one high-frequency linear probe (HFL38xp) with each
machine and a single backup. In addition, echogenic nerve block
needles, gel bottles, paper towels, marking pens, extension cords,
Figure 2: Dr De Leon Casasola during one of the pain neurophysiology
lectures of the conference.
Figure 3: Dr Visan teaching a group of Cuban anesthesiologists during
a scanning session with models.
AV cables, batteries, and inflatable pool mattresses (for the live
scanning models) also were packed for the trip. The only locally
sourced item was a piece of pork shoulder for the phantom meat
model.
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
2016
15
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