AS I SEE IT


Give the Gift of Surgery Use an ASCA scholarship to join One World Surgery in Honduras BY CINDY YOUNG, RN, CASC


In March 2018, ASCA invited me to join One World Surgery at its ASC in Honduras to help kick off ASCA’s new scholar-


ship program. The scholarship pro- gram is designed to help people who want to go on a medical mission trip but cannot finance the trip on their own. ASCA uses revenue derived from its affinity partners program to fund this scholarship program. One World Surgery needs surgical/ scrub techs and nurses on most of its brigades, and with this new scholar- ship program, ASCA hopes to help fill these spots by helping nurses and techs make the trip. When asked to go and experience the medical mission field, I accepted without hesitation. After I signed up, several people told me how dangerous Honduras was and encouraged me not to go. I was so passionate about this medical mis- sion trip that I took a leap of faith and went anyway. At no point during my trip did I feel uneasy or worried about my safety. One World Surgery has staff at the airport who greet you upon arrival. As your team members’ flights arrive, everyone waits at the airport together. Everyone then leaves together for the ranch. There are armed guards with the group at the airport, and they travel with the group to the ranch. The ranch is located behind a gated community with 24-hour guards. Once we arrived at the ranch, we were taken to the con- ference center where we were assigned our accommodations for the week. The conference center is a newly constructed facility where everyone stays during the week. The building has plenty of areas for socializing, and


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The One World Surgery team members who volunteered their time in Honduras March 17–23, 2018.


VOLUNTEER IN HONDURAS ON ASCA


Nurses and surgical/scrub techs, apply for ASCA’s Medical Mission Scholarship Program. Each scholarship covers One World Surgery’s medical mission program fee and round-trip airfare for the participant.


www.ascassociation.org/ ows-scholarships


everyone on your team gathers there at the end of each day for evening meals and speakers. The sleeping quarters at the conference center are set up with four people to a room. Each person has their own bed, space to store their belongings for the week and access to a private bathroom, double sinks in each room and private showers.


ASC FOCUS SEPTEMBER 2018 |www.ascfocus.org


Saturday and Sunday are spent get- ting to know your team and participat- ing in an orientation about the ranch and the ASC there. Surgeries are performed Monday through Friday at the surgery center. Depending on your assignment, most days you work 8 to 10 hours at the ASC. On Wednesdays, the local staff plan for a short day to allow people to experience the ranch and interact with the children who live in an orphanage on the ranch. The surgery center is set up like our


surgery centers in the US. It has a sep- arate preop area, post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) area and step-down recov- ery area. I was very impressed with the operating room (OR) suites. They have three large OR suites, and they look like an OR suite you would see in the US.


The advice and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not represent official Ambulatory Surgery Center Association policy or opinion.


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