Torchlight and adhesive tape were once used by a medical team to give emergency treatment to a mother and her unborn baby on Matuku Island in the Lau Group.
This happened in October 1969.
The team was rushed by the Governor’s yacht, Ra Marama, to Matuku Island on a mercy mission to save the lives of a 34-year-old woman and her 10th baby.
The medical team consisted of obstetrician Dr A. Naqasima, anaesthetist Dr S. Seruvatu, theatre sister U. Nacoke and junior sister M. Dovi.
They had to perform a caesarean section operation under extremely difficult conditions.
According to Dr Naqasima, there was no proper place to perform such an operation on the island so an ordinary table was used for the patient.
“There was no sticking plaster or alcohol supplies for sterilising equipment on the island and not even fly spray to kill the flies in the room used for the emergency operation,” The Fiji Times noted.
Because of the shortage of water on the island, the medical team had to cut down their “scrubbing up” time by about two minutes.
Normally, doctors wash their hands in running water for about five minutes before donning their gowns and gloves.
Dr Naqasima said in The Fiji Times of October 13, 1969 that during the operation, he had to ask the two nurses to keep the flies away from the sterilised surgical equipment and the patient.
The main operating light used was a torch.
Despite the challenges, when the medical team left the island, the condition of both mother and baby were “satisfactory”.
The Ra Marama was on her way back to Suva from Matuku when the medical team was again requested to attend to an urgent maternity case on Moala.
Because of bad weather, the vessel had to cruise around the island all night until it could sail into the harbour in the morning.
The patient was found to be suffering from “displaced pregnancy” so she was brought to Suva in the yacht to undergo an operation at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH).
There were not enough medical supplies left to conduct an operation on Moala as most were used up during the emergency operation on Matuku.
“During the voyage, the woman was given some intravenous fluids. The medical team had given all the sticking plaster they had to the medical officer on Matuku so instead, they had to use adhesive tape taken off parcels of medical goods,” said Dr Naqasima.
The patient was brought safely to Suva and the operation was performed successfully at the CWMH.
