In November and December of 2018, Dr. Olga Rajas Naranjo, nurse Liliana Llanos Rodríguez and Dr. Enrique Cases Viedma, travelled to Panamá, Honduras and El Salvador to continue Proyecto Horizonte, a humanitarian effort by the World Bronchology Foundation and Separ Solidaria. The 2018 project was made possible by the invitation of Dr. Tarsicio Perea, President of the Asociación Panameña of Neumología and Cirugía del Tórax, and Dr. Amanda Alonso, President of the Asociación Salvadoreña of Neumología, and the Dr. Victor Castro Goméz from the Hospital Salvadoreño del Seguro Social.P
Our objectives were:
- Train the professionals in EBUS,
a technic that is being developed in Centroamerica. In spite of the challenges
in having only one EBUS in Panama, and one in to El Salvador. Additionally,
there have only been less than ten explorations in each country. - Support the formation of the
future pulmonologists in Honduras and El Salvador. Thirdly, - Update the pleural technics and
bronchoscopies, collaborate with the patients assistance and manage the
materials that were donated to Honduras from the last year. - Finally, the last objective was
to stimulate the cooperation between nurses and doctors and enforce their
identity.
Even with a busy schedule full of institutional and informal meetings, visits to different hospitals, formative courses and clinic assistance, the goals were accomplished and the there was full participation in all the activities. Furthermore, we are proud to have Panamá and El Salvador participants be fully engaged in the theoretical and practical course of Interventionist Pulmonology. Meanwhile, nurse Liliana Llanos brought together the nursing personnel to assess issues like endoscopy techniques in pulmonology and preparation and sedation of the patients. The development of this projected rested on the successful collaboration of Dr. Victor Coto, responsible for the Respiratory Endoscopy Unit from the Hospital Nacional, Dr. José Antonio Saldaña and Dr. Luis González, Head of the Pulmonology Department Hospital Salvadoreño del Seguro Social where we could do the EBUS practice.
In Honduras, our goal was to review the
materials donated as a result of the previous year’s Proyecto Horizonte, continuing the formation of the professionals
and maintain the support in the creation of an specialize training in
Pulmonology.