MACS used donations from supporters to purchase a new autoclave for St. Anne’s Hospital, Nkhotakota. The old autoclave had failed and was unrepairable. What did this mean? Surgical instruments and other equipment needed to be taken to a hospital many kilometres away, a very expensive and time-consuming business, and difficult when St. Annes’s does not own many spare instruments.
The only alternative is to return to the (very) old days of boiling instruments and baking protective staff gowns, fabric dressings and patient ‘drapes’ used to surround the operation site, and still not being confident about sterility. Having an autoclave means equipment is properly sterilised at high pressure, rather like in a giant pressure cooker. Even better, packs can be made up, sterilised and stored that contain everything needed for a specific operation such as for caesarean section or repairing a badly broken leg. This saves a lot of staff time in an emergency.
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