Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

Chris was the only member of my team on the same flights to Rwanda, although we met just departing Toronto.

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean a few hours into the flight, an overhead call was made seeking medical assistance. I have been on many flights where these calls are made and typically someone is a bit lightheaded or has had too much to drink. This one was different. Chris, two other health care providers and I (with help from the flight attendants) ran a full code for about 45 minutes, using as much as we found in the meager medical kit and the defibrillator. Unfortunately, the patient did not survive.  It was a very sad situation and for many reasons the conditions for the resuscitation attempt were poor.

The travel this time had a connection in Addis Abba, Ethiopia. Since we will spend our final week there, this routing made sense. My previous flights over Africa have been nighttime so it was great to see the landscape from the air, as we flew in the afternoon from Addis Abba to Kigali (via Bujumbura, Burundi). Addis appears relatively flat with some surrounding hills. As we flew further south over the Great Rift Valley, the terrain changed from dry brown to lush green hills. We flew over Lake Victoria - it's huge! Burundi and Rwanda have similar landscape but Burundi is sparsely populated and has few roads. Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in the world at 230 people per sq. km. It is quite apparent from the air.

We arrived in Kigali Saturday afternoon with enough time and energy to get phones working, change money and have dinner on a leafy terrace overlooking Kigali.

View from Camilla's over Kigali

Happy Chris

Stephen arrived at 2:00 AM today (Sunday) minus luggage...

We've spent the day getting ready for academic day tomorrow. There are 11 new PGYs but we won't meet them tomorrow. We will have a group of about 20 residents and have made some lively teaching plans. Good night, stay tuned.