Dr. Niloo Edwards anticipated challenging conditions when he agreed to participate with other Wisconsin doctors on a cardiac surgery mission to the Dominican Republic.
But in a real-life plot twist worthy of an “ER” season finale, Edwards ended up doing open-heart surgery and valve replacement with broken equipment, rain pouring through ceilings in patient rooms and power outages during the recent Hurricane Noel in Santiago.
Edwards, UW Hospital’s head of cardiothoracic surgery, describes the trip in detail in a blog at www.uwhealth.org. Joining him from UW Hospital were perfusionist Jake Young, technician Jody Baird and nurse Annette Macias-Hoag.