A Biomedical Engineer at St George and Sutherland Hospitals will make his fifteenth expedition overseas with
Operation Open Heart next month.
Jonathan Devasagayam will bring more than 12 years of engineering experience to the program when he joins a number
of Australian medical and nursing staff who will perform multiple open heart operations that will save the lives
of many in Rwanda.
His expertise lies in the repair, maintenance and management of medical equipment.
Operation Open Heart was set up in 1985 as a volunteer project and is supported by health professionals from across
the nation, including a number of South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Health staff.
Mr Devasagayam said volunteer medical teams visit developing countries to perform cardiac surgery mainly for congenital
heart defects in children which otherwise would not be available in those areas.
“Team members pay their own fares and often use their annual leave allocation during these trips," Mr Devasagayam said.
“We take between two and six tonnes of medical equipment and consumables. The medical equipment has mostly been donated by
hospitals that have upgraded theirs and are no longer in need of the old equipment.
“My role is to support the equipment required by the team, to undertake infrastructure improvement projects, and to assist
local staff maintain equipment through education and training,” he said.
“The majority of the patients operated on are children and this surgical intervention enables them to lead normal lives.
“We have been able to educate local health staff over the years and our aim is to transfer our life-saving skills to local
doctors and hospitals,” Mr Devasagayam said.
“It is a tremendous experience doing much needed work – and the people are so grateful.
“There are many people who give up their time to assist with the surgery, but there are also a lot of Australian organisations
who support the programme as well,” he said.
Operation Open Heart has now performed more than 2,700 surgical procedures in 12 countries.
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