Invitation to fall Peru mission

Update: volunteers needed! 

Anesthesiologist, ER MD/Nurses, Dentist, CV Surgeon

Fundraiser for Vietnam Scout Mission a Success

Thanks to the Song Long Restaurant in Apple Valley, Minnesota and its dedicated staff, the funds to send a CardioStart scout team to Vietnam to assess the readiness for a pediatric heart mission was a rounding success.  The efforts of Humanitarian Services for Children of Vietnam (HSCV) in organizing the event were well received by many who enjoyed a festive buffet dinner, live entertainment, dancing and a silent auction.   

2008 PERU MISSION REPORT

On March 29th a team of 23 North American volunteers and seven Lima Peru volunteers participated in a historic 40th mission of Cardiostart International in which a new pediatric heart surgery center was launched. CardioStart’s Peruvian Director, Mrs. Eliana Morla, again supervised all local aspects of this ambitious mission involving the following projects:

1.Ongoing pediatric heart surgery development of the only children’s hospital serving 28 million population (week 1)
2.Pediatric heart surgery – a start-up program to develop a second pediatric heart surgery center in the south of the Country, intending to serve a population of 8.5million in Arequipa’s regional catchment area (week 2).
3.Adult cardiac surgery, continuing development of the program begun on five previous visits to Arequipa.
4.Adult Cardiology Clinics in Arequipa region.
5.Outreach projects in La Joya, a town, 50miles from Arequipa, in the Andes.
6.Specialist medical, nursing and general update education and Child Life instruction.
7.Biomedical Engineering support and new equipment inservicing.

Joint Mission to Romania Planned

In mid-January, Joanne McGuire, CardioStart’s Administrative Director, met with Vanessa Cummings, Director, and Michael Coretchi, Project Coordinator, of F.R.O.D.O. (Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans) in London to continue planning for a joint mission to Romania.  F.R.O.D.O.’s goal is to improve the quality of life for physically and mentally disabled orphans in developing countries and would work with CardioStart to provide desperately needed cardiac care and surgery to these children in Romania. A scout mission by a joint team from both charities is scheduled for early June 2008.  It will include Joanne McGuire, Director of Administration, Wes McMahon, a senior ICU nurse from Portland, Oregon, and Dr. Uday Dandekar, Cardiac Surgeon from Birmingham, UK. They will review the facilities available in the target hospital in Romania, as well as discuss the objectives and priorities for a full medical mission that is tentatively planned for later this year.  This is an exciting opportunity for both organizations to extend their help to vulnerable Romanian children with heart problems.

A Volunteer's account in Florida:

"Hello my name is Kit Moretuzzo. I am a friend of Joanne McGuire, we met through church. She told me about her new job at CardioStart and about all the medical supplies CardioStart receives from All Children’s Hospital. I offered her my assistance, since I am an RN. I thought I would just go there and tell ‘somebody’ what all the things were and be done.

Well, that is not quite how it worked out. On a steamy hot August afternoon, I came to the warehouse on Hartford Street in Tampa. The place was so crammed full with boxes and medical stuff that you could not see the walls or the back for “stuff”. I was so discouraged by what I saw that I decided just to give my advice that afternoon and be done. Well, I am still working in the warehouse a couple of days a week. The mission pictures on the wall in the house followed me for the next week. I had to go back. Two weeks later I was hooked. My mind kept on working overtime, "if we get this packed, we can move these boxes over here" and so on.

First Time Participation at Brandon Health Fair

On Saturday, March 8, 2008, CardioStart participated in the 2008 Health Fair in Brandon, Florida.  Sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce, CardioStart hosted a booth highlighting our mission and showcased the work of our volunteers.  The latest DVD attracted many interested people and several signed up to volunteer their services at our headquarters. CardioStart’s participation was possible due to the financial support of two of our Tampa volunteers. It was a wonderful way to increase awareness of our humanitarian services in developing countries as well as to attract additional local support.