The Floating Doctors: Mobile medicine comes to Panama’s jungles

‘A existent blessing’

At the decision of the 2nd time of the clinic, the bushed volunteers locomotion down a muddy elevation to bathe successful the acold waters of a adjacent river, arsenic determination are fewer disposable showers successful the village. They towel off, person a lukewarm meal and drawstring up their hammocks for a last night.

Over the past 2 days, beneath the tropical vigor and rain, they saw 133 patients and provided assistance and attraction for a fig of maladies, from lesions and diarrhoea to fevers, cysts and gestation concerns.

“As a doctor, you’re ever facing an uncertain and challenging situation wherever you’re questioning yourself,” says Dr Geoff McCullen, an orthopaedic surgeon and prof astatine the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. “This week, I deliberation our students learned they tin look uncertainty, they tin look challenges, negociate these complexities simultaneously and beryllium decisive astir what a diligent needs.”

Iryna Hrynyk, a Floating Doctors unpaid from the United States, and Federico Criado Rota, a unpaid from Argentina, be to a diligent with manus symptom successful La Sabana, Panama [Adam Williams/Al Jazeera]

After nightfall, wearing headlamps, the radical discusses the aesculapian cases they witnessed and reflects connected an acquisition that pushed them retired of their comfortableness zones, some arsenic radical and budding professionals.

“I’ve had truthful galore firsts this week,” said Cristina Kontogiannis, a second-year aesculapian pupil astatine the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. “I’ve ne'er listened to a baby’s lungs and I got to bash that here, for example. It’s been specified a learning acquisition and I’m truthful thankful for this opportunity.”

Serrano and the radical of La Sabana are thankful arsenic well. He said that La Sabana is simply a close-knit assemblage and astatine their regular meetings they often praise and dependable continued enactment for the visits from the Floating Doctors.

“We person a batch of request here. We person a batch of patients that endure from chronic diseases and a batch of accidents specified arsenic snake bites, machete cuts oregon children with breached bones,” Serrano said. “We’re contented and satisfied with the Floating Doctors, and they’ve taught however to beryllium amended equipped to woody with accidents and exigency issues, and that wasn’t ever the case.”

Victoria Corvera Pose (centre), a Floating Doctors squad subordinate from Argentina, and Iris Ertugrul behaviour a imaginativeness exam successful the colony of La Sabana [Adam Williams/Al Jazeera]

On the last morning, the Floating Doctors load the duffel bags afloat of aesculapian instrumentality and strap them to the battalion horses to statesman the travel backmost to headquarters. The descent done the humid and boggy rainforest is easier than the trek up, and determination is simply a consciousness of joyousness among the group, who laughter and sing during the sunny greeting trek.

The autobus awaits the radical astatine Pueblo Nuevo, makes a halt for lunch, and drops the radical disconnected astatine the port, wherever they load boats, strap connected their lifejackets and zip backmost crossed the Caribbean. After arriving, the jubilant and exhausted squad changes into swimming gear. They instrumentality a last radical photograph and then, together, leap into the lukewarm and wide waters surrounding the island.

In 3 months' time, different radical of Floating Doctors volunteers volition marque this aforesaid trek to La Sabana to supply attraction to residents successful need. A fewer others volition transportation connected to Wari – astir an hour’s locomotion deeper into the rainforest – to sojourn Omayra.

“Because of Omayra’s information and inability to walk, I can’t enactment oregon permission her side, and we don’t person the wealth to wage to transport her to the hospital,” said Julian Abrego, Omayra’s father. “The information that the Floating Doctors travel each the mode to our location to attraction for Omayra, that’s a existent blessing for us.”

Jyotika Vallurupalli (left), a unpaid from the US, and Iris Ertugrul, a Floating Doctors squad subordinate from the Netherlands, be to diligent Omayra Abrego astatine her location successful Wari, Panama [Adam Williams/Al Jazeera]

Reporting for this communicative was supported by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Health Innovation Fellowship.