International SOS - Tanzania Medical Emergency

International SOS operates a modern and busy medical clinic on behalf of a Canadian company at a gold mine in the a remote part of Tanzania. This clinic is one of more than 160 remote site projects managed around the world, with services from staffing and management to design and medical supply. These clinics are usually in locations where transportation, climate, and communications are a constant challenge.

At the Tanzania gold mine clinic, three doctors and one paramedic are on duty 24 hours a day, supported by nine nurses, a radiographer, and a laboratory technician from the mine.

One on-site contractor's employees developed a slight headache, body aches, and runny nose. Initially he shrugged it off as a bout of influenza and continued to work. When the symptoms became worse after a week, he visited the clinic and a malaria test turned out positive. He was prescribed medication and returned to work, but his condition again began to deteriorate.

Back at the clinic, a battery of tests confirmed the employee was suffering from liver failure as a result of the original malaria attack, and immediately evacuated him to Nairobi, Kenya, where he received dialysis after developing kidney failure.

His wife was flown in from South Africa so she could be close to him. Finally, he started to improve steadily and manage without dialysis. Fourteen days after first becoming ill, he was fit enough to be discharged. His story had a happy ending--an ending that would have been much different if he had not been located in an area where first-rate medical assistance was immediately available.