Frugal indigenous methods for chest tube insertion and venesection

Frugal indigenous methods for chest tube insertion and venesection

Rahul Bhatia
Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India

Simulation is a very good way of acquiring new skills. Mannequins for simulation are expensive, and not easily available, especially in far flung areas of low and middle income countries. Short training programs to impart clinical skills near the palace of work of medical officers can be useful to minimize the time away from work for medical officers performing duties in remote regions. The authors conducted such a training program regarding initial management of a trauma victim at Keylong, Himachal Pradesh, India. Due to adverse weather and road conditions, the vehicle carrying the mannequins failed to reach the destination on time. Since the participants had travelled distances varying from 50-100 km to come for the training, the authors did not wish to let the lack of the mannequins derail the training program and created ingenious simulators out of materials available in the community health centre and the surrounding environment.

The authors created a box to simulate a thoracic cavity to trainees to practice chest tube insertion, and a leg model to practice venous cutdown. Conclusion: This paper describes the process of creation of these models as an example of the Indian concept of frugal engineering. The feedback from the trainees was very encouraging and the enthusiastic participants agreed that it simulated well for the landmarks, the procedure and increased their understanding.

Keywords: Chest tube, venesection