{"id":53584,"date":"2025-03-26T18:15:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T18:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/from-headlights-to-pulse-oximeters-how-simple-tools-are-saving-lives-in\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T14:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T14:06:10","slug":"from-headlights-to-pulse-oximeters-how-simple-tools-are-saving-lives-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/from-headlights-to-pulse-oximeters-how-simple-tools-are-saving-lives-in\/","title":{"rendered":"From headlights to pulse oximeters: How simple tools are saving lives in operating rooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

With five out of seven people lacking access to safe surgery and 4.2 million dying within 30 days of operations each year, experts at the inaugural Advancing Medical Education in Africa Conference (MedEdAfrica 2025) this week highlighted how these interventions, paired with innovative training, are reducing risks and reshaping healthcare education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the lights go off mid-operation, our headlamp comes on, and we continue,\u201d said Professor Nobhojit Roy, a Lifebox governing board member and surgery professor at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE).<\/p>\n

Lifebox\u2019s headlamps, distributed across 116 countries, tackle a universal hurdle: power interruptions. <\/p>\n

In Rwanda, like many other countries in the region, they have illuminated operating theaters, with Prof. Roy describing them as a \u201cpractical fix\u201d in cases of power hitches, ensuring surgeries can continue uninterrupted even with the slightest interruption.<\/p>\n

Senait Bitew Alemu, Lifebox\u2019s Chief Programme Officer, highlighted the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist as a cornerstone of their Clean Cut project, which includes components such as proper hand hygiene, skin antisepsis, sterile equipment and environment, and timely antibiotic prophylaxis.<\/p>\n

In Rwanda, the non-profit organization focused on improving the safety of surgery in low-income countries has been implementing the Clean Cut program in four facilities, including CHUK, Kabgayi, Kigeme, and Kirehe. According to the organization, globally, Clean Cut has demonstrated a 35% reduction in infections among all patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cA patient shouldn\u2019t return with an infection,\u201d Alemu said, emphasizing the importance of safer recoveries for mothers post-cesarean.<\/p>\n

Pulse oximeters, which monitor oxygen levels, have also played an important role in safer surgeries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a device you saw during COVID,\u201d Prof. Roy noted.<\/p>\n

A pulse oximeter is the only piece of equipment included on the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist and is a minimum standard for safe anesthesia. Yet, operating rooms across the world still lack this essential device, putting millions of lives at risk, according to Lifebox experts.<\/p>\n

Since 2011, Lifebox has distributed more than 35,000 pulse oximeters in 116 countries. Coupled with the training of more than 14,000 healthcare providers on safe surgeries, these efforts are making surgery safer for more than 200 million patients.<\/p>\n

Additionally, as part of efforts for safer surgeries, Lifebox, in partnership with Smile Train, is equipping 650 operating rooms with Smile Train-Lifebox Capnographs. These essential monitors ensure patients receive adequate oxygen during anesthesia. While they have been used universally in high-income countries for decades, they remain absent in many low-resource operating rooms.<\/p>\n

The MedEdAfrica conference, launched Monday at the Kigali Convention Centre, drew over 600 medical educators, students, healthcare leaders, and policymakers from Africa and beyond. <\/p>\n

Hosted by UGHE, the Ministry of Health, and partners, it birthed the Consortium of Medical Schools in Africa (COMSA) to foster collaboration.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the opening of the conference, Health Minister Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana stressed the importance of evolving education to meet a shifting health landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiseases have moved from malaria to cancer as life expectancy rises,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need specialists, and fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lifebox supports the ministry through a nine-month nursing fellowship at Butaro Teaching Hospital, which began two months ago and is ongoing. <\/p>\n

\u201cNurses are the backbone,\u201d Alemu affirmed. \u201cWe\u2019re training them in safety, leadership, and sterilization,” she added.<\/p>\n

The Lifebox training program, targeting general nurses in perioperative roles, aims to cascade training across Rwanda, with five initial trainees set to mentor others.<\/p>\n

{{Reforms on medical training
\n}}<\/p>\n

Professor Abebe Bekele, UGHE\u2019s Dean and COMSA co-chair, emphasized the need for education reform across Africa to address existing gaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrica can\u2019t afford 15-20-year training timelines,\u201d he said, advocating for shorter, intensive programs and multi-level training to meet rural healthcare demands.<\/p>\n

He termed the reforms as crucial to supporting initiatives such as the 4×4 program launched in July 2023, which aims to quadruple the number of healthcare workers in the country within four years, with a target to achieve this by 2027.<\/p>\n

Thomas Weiser, a Stanford surgeon and Lifebox collaborator, echoed this call for change: \u201cWe\u2019ve trained doctors the same way for 120 years\u2014it\u2019s too slow.\u201d He proposed simulation and task-sharing with non-medical doctors, noting, \u201cNurse anesthetists handle 80% of rural US anesthetics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister Nsanzimana pushed for a tech-driven overhaul, stating, \u201cThe demand is growing, and we must respond by aligning medical education with healthcare needs. There is no debate\u2014medical education is crucial. The burden of disease is increasing and evolving. We have moved from primarily dealing with malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis to addressing chronic illnesses like cancer and organ failure. These shifts are recent\u2014perhaps in the past decade\u2014but they are significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cAI is already transforming fields like radiology and pathology. Should we continue training the same number of specialists in these fields, or should we adapt to the changing landscape? Technology is not replacing healthcare professionals, but it is shifting how we work. We must integrate these advancements into medical education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof. Roy reinforced this urgency: \u201cWith population growth, we need faster training\u201415 years won\u2019t cut it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lifebox\u2019s<\/figure>\n
\"Pulse<\/figure>\n
\"The<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"Senait<\/figure>\n
\"Professor<\/figure>\n
\"Professor<\/figure>\n
\"Minister<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In operating rooms worldwide, where power failures and infections threaten millions, simple tools like headlamps, pulse oximeters, and checklists are proving to be life-saving game-changers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000084377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000084377,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/whatsapp-image-2025-03-26-at-4.12.20-pm-1920x1440.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/whatsapp-image-2025-03-26-at-4.12.20-pm-1920x1440.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/whatsapp-image-2025-03-26-at-4.12.20-pm-1920x1440.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/whatsapp-image-2025-03-26-at-4.12.20-pm-1920x1440.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/whatsapp-image-2025-03-26-at-4.12.20-pm-1920x1440.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/whatsapp-image-2025-03-26-at-4.12.20-pm-1920x1440.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000084377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53584"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53584"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}