The ASE Foundation’s global health outreach events program is designed to bring humanitarian adult and pediatric cardiac care to developing countries, teaching local clinicians and providing direct services to those in need. These efforts not only impact the lives and well-being of countless patients in underserved populations, but they also serve to spotlight the versatility and adaptability of cardiovascular ultrasound while advancing practice standards to uniform treatment and improve patient care worldwide.

The ASE Foundation’s 2016 global health outreach events are supported by donor contributions to the Annual Appeal and a grant from the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation Every Heartbeat Matters program.

Eldoret, Kenya
September 2016

Partners in Care │ Day One │ Day Two │ Days Three & Four │ Faces That Touched Our Hearts

Partners in Care

This event was a collaboration between the ASE Foundation and the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, Kenya. Our ASE team worked with the MTRH staff to survey children in Western Kenya in an outreach event looking for undiagnosed heart disease. Over the course of their week in Eldoret, team members assisted with assessment of over 1,000 primary school students and provided training for local clinicians. All of the children that presented with pathology are in the process of being plugged into the MTRH clinic for follow-up and further testing. This event also provided the hospital with valuable information on the potential burden of acquired, particularly rheumatic, and congenital heart disease in the greater-Eldoret area.

Team Leaders:
Michael C. Foster, RCS, RDCS, FASE – Duke University Health System, Durham, NC
Myra Maghasi, MD – Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Gregory H. Tatum, MD, FASE – Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center, Durham, NC

Team Members:
Eglé Burdulis, RDCS, FASE – Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Hanover, NH
Emma Chesoli – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Francis Dagala – Transportation, Eldoret, Kenya
Elizabeth Dillard, RCCS – Kaiser Permanente, Washington, DC
Suzanne Golz, MS, RDCS – Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Brittney Guile, BS, RDCS – University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Jill B. Inafuku, BS, RDCS, RDMS, FASE – Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI
Cecilia C. Juarez, BS, AAS, RDCS – Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Tallahassee, FL
Gilbert Kabogor – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Daniel Kip – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
John Kiptoon – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Billy Kurui, MD – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Carolyne Koech – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Timothy Koech – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Mary Kwambai – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
C. Becket Mahnke, MD – Honolulu, Hawaii
Johan Mathe – Bay Labs, Inc., San Francisco, CA
Esther Ngesa – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Josephat Sabilah – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Eunice Soy – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Allison J. Sterk, RDCS – University of Michigan
Agnes Tanui – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
Andrea M. Van Hoever – ASE Staff, Morrisville, NC
Reuben Yanoh – Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya

Special acknowledgement for their advice and assistance planning this event:
– Piers Barker, MD, FASE – Duke University Health System, Durham, NC
– Gerald Bloomfield, MD, MPH, FASE – Duke University Health System, Durham, NC
– Andrew McCrary, MD – Duke University Health System, Durham, NC
– Dunia Karama – Indiana University House, Eldoret, Kenya
– Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya
– Duke Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health, Durham, NC

Thank you also to our industry partners Hitachi Aloka Medical America, Inc., Terason, and Toshiba America Medical Systems for providing the ultrasound equipment and technical support required to make this event possible.

Day One – Ndurio Primary School, Kaptumo, Kenya

The Kenyan primary school system encompasses grades (or forms) one through eight. On our first day, the team traveled about 90 minutes outside of Eldoret to the city of Kaptumo. Only one room in the school had electricity, but it was large enough to accommodate all 7 of our scanning stations. Everything that was needed to set up our space was brought with us from Eldoret. We used camping cots as beds for the children; small stools doubled as places for the sonographers to sit and also as machine stands; room dividers to allow for privacy were constructed with ropes, sheets, and tarps.

Despite a late start given the drive from Eldoret, the team scanned 300 students at this rural school.

Day Two – Kiptanui Primary School, Eldoret, Kenya

On our second day, we stayed a little closer to “home” and visited a school located in North Eldoret. We were able to use two different rooms in this school, so we were able to separate the boys and girls which made the scanning go much faster. Today the team scanned 250 children. Afterwards, we were treated to a delicious late lunch cooked by some of the teachers.

Days Three & Four – Mindililwo Primary School, Iten, Kenya

Iten is a small town in the highlands located approximately 45 minutes from Eldoret. It is known as the “Home of Champions” and is famous as the training center for middle- and long-distance runners from around the world. The Mindililwo Primary School is the largest school our team visited, with over 500 students. By the time we finished our second day here, the team had scanned over 1,000 children.