SUBJECT: Medical work and New Runways

AUTHOR: David Gates, his wife Becky, and three of their five children - Katie, Carlos, and Kristopher, work together with Becky's parents, sister and family, in a medical aviation program in the jungles of Guyana, South America.

DATE: August 26, 1997

Dear family and friends,

One of my friends asked me in one of his email messages about the plane and the impact it was having on our communities. On my TO DO list I have written "Write about the medical aviation work". One of the reasons I have had for not writing is that the plane has been in the air so much during the last 2-3 weeks, that I have been in no mood to write after a heavy day of flying. This past week was very exciting, so, before I begin another 5-6 hours of flying, let me tell you about it.

During the first two months of operation, the plane had been limited to flying into only three villages, Kaikan, Paruima, and Kamarang. Kamarang has a paved strip, and is the center of health care for this region of the country. They have a small hospital, with a couple of trained paramedics, and an occasional visit by a physician. They do have regular radio contact with Georgetown, and seem to be able to keep a good stock of medications and IV supplies. Though we do not run a clinic in Kaikan, we do take care of walk-in emergencies, trauma, and other medical problems. Other villagers, however, usually have to fly to Kamarang to get decent medical treatment. Since Kamarang has regular flights several times a week, it is usually possible for a patient to get a free seat out to Georgetown.

Our medical aircraft is used for several types of flights: Mercy Flights (no charge to the patient), Community Service Flights (community or person(s) usually cover the cost of fuel only), and Development Flights (no charges to the community).

Mercy Flights usually involve a medical emergency requiring urgent or immediate treatment. They many times involve not only the patient but an accompanying family member. Two weeks ago I received a radio call from Paruima asking me to

An advanced case of malaria for Mercy Flight to Georgetown

come over immediately to pickup a snake bite victim. I was already on my way to the plane to make another flight, so I took off immediately and flew to Paruima. When I got there, I found the village in a state of anxiety. Evidently a man had been bitten the night before while working in his field several hours away by foot. Having received the word, the village had sent 4 men to carry the patient out in a hammock to the plane. My heart fell as I realized that victim had probably not received any treatment. About an hour later, accompanied by a large group of people, the patient was brought across the river in a canoe to the plane, where I took his vital signs and prepared him for the flight. The fang marks were on his right arm, about half an inch apart. As I suspected, there had been no treatment of any kind. Even though it was probably too late, I placed a wrap above the bite. I took the front right seat out, and moved it back so the semi-conscious, 75 year old patient could lie down in the plane. When I arrived in Kamarang, I taxied the plane to the far end of the runway where the hospital was, and carried the man in the hammock to the hospital. There he was immediately interned and an IV started. I asked the Medic what treatment snake victims received, and she said "IV antibiotics. No other antivenin treatment of any kind is given." I flew back to Paruima and picked up the patients daughter and brought her back to accompany her father. Everyone kept asking how I thought the patient would be. I had to tell them I was very doubtful since most of the poison had been working for a long time before treatment was given, and in second place no real treatment was really available anyway. Everyone was very sad since the man had been loved by many. In spite of the prognosis, they appeared very grateful to have had the services of the plane. Later on the same evening we received the sad news that brother Roberto Henrito had passed away. We are currently working hard to find a inexpensive source of antivenin for the "Fer de Lance" snake which is the most frequent cause of death here in this region from snake bites. Some possibilities include the donation of this antivenin from manufacturers in the US, and the

A young mother returns home to Paruima on Mercy Flight from Georgetown

acquisition of some antivenin from a Brazilian source. We are still looking.

Other Mercy Flights this past month include two chronic cases of severe, untreated Malaria, one compressed vertebrae which was flown to Kamarang and then to Georgetown by military helicopter, two complicated pregnancies, and one knee injury. If the pregnancies had been in Kaikan, they would have been delivered Mom Duerksen. I had the pleasure of bringing these ladies back home with their new babies and to a very happy family. What joy that was.

Service Flights are usually made at the request of one of the villagers or Captain of the village. These flights usually involve a flight for personal convenience such as carrying children or older persons across the mountains to avoid a three-day walk over hazardous terrain. Since the flight is one of convenience only, we ask for fuel costs only which most are able and willing to put up. About 15 such flights were performed during the last 4 weeks. Some of the passengers commented that they had wanted to visit family across the mountains for years, but had been unable to make the trip due to the difficult terrain. Not only is it a pleasure to be able to assist them with such simple pleasures, but it allows me to build my local flying experience with no out-of-pocket expenses.

Development Flights are those which we ourselves program for Health Education, or evangelistic support. During these flights we spend from a day to a weekend in a village doing presentations on health, nutrition, drug abuse, and teach them new songs in English and Spanish. We generally take the video projector which always brings out the crowd since it the largest event in town. Requests for such Development flights have been coming in from all over the region. Before going in into new runways with the plane, I must receive a route check from a local experienced pilot. This is a very safe precaution, but puts a bit of a delay on an immediate answer to many requests. Other villages don't have runways, so they must walk to the nearest village where the plane can land. There is some much desire to receive these services that some villages have sent men to approach me with proposals to build, or re-open an older closed runway. These opportunities are increasing, creating a need for volunteers to assist with these many needs. Training needs include health, nutrition, basic accounting, agriculture, Bible, and home economics, as well as basic primary and secondary courses. Construction needs include supervision of runway construction, building of classrooms, radio installations, and hydroelectric plants. Almost any skill can be utilized effectively.

Two New Runways: And now for the most exciting news. Two villages in particular have made extraordinary efforts to acquire access to the aviation program. The village of Arau, 7 hours walk, 7 minutes flight time, lies North of Kaikan. A nearby runway on top of the Savannah near the village was closed over a decade ago. The entire village worked for many days, clearing the brush, and cutting down trees on the approach side of the runway. They finally completed the work last week, and sent a runner to Kaikan with the news that the runway was completed. Having personally inspected the runway on foot several months past, I flew over to Arau, taking the runner with me, to inspect the work from the air. Indeed the runway was on lovely condition. The second village to prepare their runway was Waramadong. Their runway runs down the center of the village, but had been closed nearly 30 years ago. Leif Aaen, a volunteer A&P mechanic from Andrews University spent several days in Waramadong working with the people on the runway. He did an excellent job, leaving the runway almost completed. After personally inspecting the Waramadong runway, I approached the Director of Civil Aviation about officially opening these runways to use. He agreed, so an inspector was assigned to accompany me to visit them. Arau was unaware that we were coming, so were not prepared for our visit. However, after touching down, the inspector and I were surprised to find two hikers walking down the runway toward us. They turned out to be to villagers from Kaikan that had been visiting Arau. One of them had suffered a knee injury and after some basic treatment was walking back to Kaikan for recovery. I asked the inspector if he would mind waiting on the ground for a few minutes while I flew our injured brother back to Kaikan. He happily agreed, so I loaded the patient up and in 6 minutes (instead of a painful 7 hour walk) had him back home safely in Kaikan. He later said that when they saw the plane land, they ran as fast as possible to meet the plane. When I offered to fly him home, he felt that an angel had come out of the sky to help him. What a privilege that was to make the first official flight out of Arau as a mercy flight. The village captain advised me later that they are planning a special dedication service for the runway early next month.

I flew back to pick up the inspector who was enjoying the shade of one of the trees. I picked him up, flew back to Kaikan to

Waramadong honors DCA Inpsector on opening of new runway

add fuel. We then continued our trip to Waramadong, where the village was aware of our visit, and had prepared a lovely reception. After landing, the villagers surrounded the plane, had us stand before the village as two girls placed wreaths around our necks, and the church choir presented us with a lovely song. Then I was asked to have the dedication prayer. The CAD inspector was visibly impressed. After carefully inspecting the runway, which also included centerline markings down the entire length of the runway, he officially gave the village an A+ for their hard work. He said it was the only grass runway in the entire country to have a centerline. After takeoff, he privately admitted to me that even the president doesn't enjoy a better reception than we did.

In summary, we learned a lot about God's grace during this last month. If we would have limited our flights based on finances this past month, it is probable that the plane would have remained grounded. However, we made the decision to meet the need, and trust the Lord for fuel, in spite of our inability to purchase any fuel last month. Somehow the we always seemed to have another 5 or 10 gallons of fuel to throw in the plane. One of my favorite books, The Desire of Ages, page 148, has this encouraging comment:

"Each new gift increases the capacity of the receiver to appreciate and enjoy the blessings of the Lord. He gives grace for grace. There can be no failure of supply. If you abide in Him, the fact that your receive a rich gift today insures the reception of a richer gift tomorrow. The words of Jesus to Nathaniel express the law of God's dealing with the children of faith. With every fresh revelation of His love, He declares to the receptive heart, 'Believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these'. Jn. 1:50"

Until next time, I remain

Your brother in Christ

You may write to David at: gates@andrews.edu

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