Welcome to our blog for Team Heart 09!

Team Heart is a volunteer group of nurses, physicians, perfusionists, respiratory therapists, physicians, bio-medical engineers, and lay volunteers traveling to Kigali Rwanda for our second surgical interventional trip. Excitement and hard work has been building for 6 months as plans for this year have developed.

This year we are privileged to have volunteers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Mass General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota, Georgetown Medical Center in DC and Sydney Australia. In addition, we have a volunteer from one of our valued corporate partners, as well as volunteers bringing special contributions. Each volunteer brings such unique talents and the Team is stronger for their involvement.

Over the next two weeks, we will introduce you to each and describe the role that each will play as we fine tune this trip.

On the other side, our Rwandan counterparts are doing the same preparation with emails flying to and from as we check and double check our supply lists, hotel accommodations and plane reservations.

Weeks have been spent with key team members involved in procurement. Anesthesia, perfusion, OR and ICU and step-down polished their list to ensure we have what we need but not a surplus. Volunteers spent several weeks checking expiration dates and packing equipment safely. Friday morning our shipment was picked up ---- next stop Kigali!!!


PS….. the little chick featured in many of the packing photos was donated by one of the children of our volunteers. Watch closely as the chick accompanies us on our trip for luck!