How Joe the Nurse Became the Snake Man of Nepal
On his first nursing mission to Nepal in 2007, Joe Niemczura, MS, RN, wondered how he would make his mark on the indigenous people. "I wasn't there to do the nursing, I was there to teach the locals what they need to do," he explains. But as he arrived at the host hospital in the town of Tansen, he had no idea how he would build relationships and establish adequate credibility to be able to reach that goal.
Hmm. Would becoming an "international snakebite expert" do the trick? You bet.
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Joe Niemczura, RN, MS, is surrounded by his nursing students in Nepal. |
An Unlikely Expert
"Yeah, I'm considered a snakebite expert in Tansen," says Niemczura in an I-dare-you-to-believe-me proclamation, "even though there are no snakes in Hawaii and I've never taken care of a snakebite victim in the United States."
In Nepal, snakes pose an enormous threat. "Less than a dozen people die from snake bites per year in North America," asserts Niemczura, "but in south Asia, about 100,000 people die each year. That's an astounding number."
Certain snake bites cause a victim to die by paralyzing breathing muscles, "...just as if you were given anesthesia," says Niemczura. "So, if you could just put a tube into the victim's trachea to allow the victim to breathe for about 3 days when the snake poison wears off, he'd be fine. You're home free."
So there was Joe, in the middle of monsoon season, sitting in on an inservice, presented by the Tansen doctors, on the topic of administering snakebite antidote. One of the doctors mentioned they do have a mechanical ventilator on premises, but the doctors didn't know how to use it. They said even though they received some of their medical training in the west, that particular job fell to nurses, so they never learned how."
Eureka! "I'm sitting there in the back row thinking, ‘Wait a minute! I've used these things since 1978. I've trained people on these things," recalls Niemczura. "How damned difficult could this be?'"
Providential ‘Gift'
Niemczura had no sooner trained the Tansen healthcare providers than "...this patient rolls in. It was a gift!" exclaims Niemczura. "I managed the case. All together we put him on the ventilator, waited three days, and by the time he walked out of the hospital I was being hailed as a local hero... I was Mick Jagger, Elvis Presley, the Dalai Lama and Billy Graham combined!"
Fast-forward to 2008, when Niemczura made his second nursing mission to Nepal. "I get off the Buck," a vehicle so-named because it was a cross between a bus and a truck, he explains, "and what do I hear someone say? ‘The snake man has returned!'"
Beware the Fantasy
Niemczura cautions other Westerners: "We have this fantasy of going to a remote place, thinking we're smart and that we have all the right stuff to teach these people what they need to know. In reality, it almost never works out like that. What I learned is that these are very, very smart people and way more dedicated than the average American healthworker. They get up early every day in the most difficult circumstances to apply what they can; they take what you tell them, remember it and put it into play. Wow, that's gratifying from a teacher's point of view. At an American university you may have students just going through the motions. You don't see that in Nepal."
Next time: What Joe DID see in Nepal.
Get to know Joe: There are at least four ways I can suggest to help you get to know fellow RN Joe Niemczura better. First, keep reading this blog. Second, you can visit his Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=19508950#/pages/The-Hospital-at-the-End-of-the-World/46029670798?ref=nf . Third, you can buy his book (I eagerly devoured every page) at http://www.plainviewpress.net/zencart/ or at http://www.amazon.com/ (then do a search by author). Finally, Joe will be doing some book tours this fall. When I get the details, I'll pass them on to you.