Operation
Open Heart Fiji Team - 2002 Visit 
The Operation Open Heart Fiji Team has been visiting Fiji since 1990. The 2002 visit marks the eleventh visit by the Team to the Fiji Islands. Jointly coordinated by the Sydney Adventist Hospital and the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) and supported by AusAid through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Pacific Islands Project and the Fiji Ministry of Health, the project brings hope each year to the many Fiji patients who receive open-heart surgery during the visit. The project is also supported by a local Cardiac Taskforce, which is staffed by volunteers from the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, AusAid Health Management Reform project and the private sector.
The project provides a fully equipped cardiac (heart surgery) surgical team to Fiji, staffed by Australian medical and nursing staff and from medical supply companies who all assist in providing urgently needed skills and equipment. Team members volunteer both their time and expertise and pay their own airfares to participate in the project. The Fiji Cardiac Taskforce, assisted by the Fiji Ministry of Health as well as local corporate and individual sponsors, provides financial and in-kind support for the team during their stay such as accommodation, transport and meals.
Operation Open Heart Fiji provides urgently needed cardiac (heart) surgery for Fiji patients who cannot afford to receive the life-saving treatment overseas. The cost of such surgery if undertaken overseas ranges between $10,000 and $20,000. In addition to pacemaker implants, the team treats patients suffering from congenital heart defects such as “hole in the heart” to severe conditions such as “blue baby syndrome”. Another major component of the surgical program is the treatment of rheumatic heart valve diseases such as valve repair, the opening of valve narrowing and the replacement of severely damaged valves with artificial plastic valves.
In 2002, a team of 42 medical personnel from 17 hospitals from around Australia came to Fiji. During the visit, the team cardiologists saw 149 patients in the cardiac clinic. Surgery was performed on 34 (16 children and 18 adults) patients during the 2-week visit, all of whom made a full recovery from their surgery and now have a greater chance at leading healthy and productive lives.
The 2002 Operation
Open Heart visit was marked by a number of milestones for the project,
including the successful repair of a hole in the heart for Baby Ravneel
from Labasa. Baby Ravneel was just 6 weeks old and weighed just 2.5kg,
the youngest and smallest patient to be treated by any of the visiting
heart teams. Baby Ravneel’s surgery was highly successful with
his family now able to look forward to him leading a healthy and
active life.
The 2002 visit also saw surgery being conducted on the 300th patient
under the project. The patient, a 38-year old woman from Suva successfully
underwent the repair of a hole in her heart.
In addition to performing life-saving surgery, the project also aims to provide ongoing education and training for local medical, nursing and allied health staff, to assist local doctors with the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease patients and to contribute to preventative health programs in Fiji. During the course of the visit, team members conducted formal lectures at the Fiji School of Medicine as well as informal bedside training with nursing staff from the CWM Hospital.
The ongoing work of Operation Open Heart Fiji has transformed many lives in Fiji – both of the patients themselves and their families. Without Operation Open Heart many of these patients would not have survived and at best, most would not be able to lead the active and productive lives that they are now leading. Thanks to Operation Open Heart Fiji, more than 300 patients can live a life free of the constant burden of poor health and illness.
In 2001, the President of Fiji, the Honourable Ratu Josefa Iloilo, formally honoured 2 of the team members for their longstanding and dedicated contribution to the people of the Fiji Islands. Mrs Annette Baldwin, Nursing Executive Officer of the Sydney Adventist Hospital, and Dr Alan Gale, Cardiothoracic Surgeon were both awarded the Order of Fiji, in recognition of their outstanding service.
Operation Open Heart Fiji continues to touch the lives of many. In the words of Dr Alan Gale, cardiothoracic surgeon and visiting team member,
“Of all surgical categories, cardiac surgery is one of the most complex and one for which success is very much reliant on a team effort. Without the efforts of each and every team member as well as that of local medical personnel, the success of this year’s visit would not have been possible.”
Operation Open Heart Fiji is scheduled to return to Fiji in 2003, offering new hope to heart disease patients and their families.
 1.
Dr Alan Gale, cardiothoracic surgeon, attends to a patient post
operatively. Dr Gale was awarded an order of Fiji in 2000 for
service to the Fiji Islands. |
 2. Ms Beverly Jacobsen,
of Agllent Technologies uses the color echocardiograph to diagnose
a patient’s condition. |
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