A Physician Assistant in Rural Liberia

A native of the capital Monrovia, Fredrick graduated as a Physician Assistant and found work with the MoH &SW at Martha Tubman Memorial Hospital in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County in the remote South East of Liberia. He also became one of many health workers recently trained by the MENTOR Initiative on malaria case management under the generous funding of the President’s Malaria Initiative from USAID.

Photo by: John B. Dogba, Sentinel Site Supervisor – Laboratory, The MENTOR Initiative Liberia

A senior officer in the hospital, patient care lies heavily on Fredrick’s shoulders where he sees a throng of patients daily. On June 24, 2009, his day began in much the same way as every other day, but took a crucial turn when in the late afternoon, he stopped by the emergency room to chat with colleagues before taking a break. There he found a 7 year old, Lucky Boy, who lay helplessly, arms flailing, eyes unseeing, as convulsions wracked his small, frail body in the arms of his distraught parents. His parents first thought he had a simple case of flu, however he became progressively ill, and finally they decided to take him to the hospital.  A midwife tried to keep the boy from falling off the gurney while Fredrick had a nurse do a rapid test for malaria, and quickly assessed the child. Lucky was immediately diagnosed with life threatening severe malaria.

Urgent medical care was provided for Lucky, who was carefully treated according to the country’s malaria national protocols following technical guidance from partners including MENTOR and USAID. Lucky was monitored closely and Fredrick frequented his bedside to check on his patients’ well being. By the 10th hour from admission, Lucky finally roused from his unconscious state.

Despite a late night in the ward, Fredrick arrived at the clinic on time the next morning and paid a visit to Lucky Boy, who was awake and on a fast road to recovery. Frederick smiled, happy to have been at the right place at the right time, but most importantly with the right training and skills.

As prevention and awareness of malaria improve in Liberia, the number of severe cases will decrease as less children contract malaria, and as parents begin to recognize the danger signs and then seek treatment at an early stage in the development of the disease. Severe malaria still remains a problem in Liberia, however with the dedication and work of well-trained staff such as Frederick, even severe malaria is not a death sentence and lives such as Lucky Boys’ are being saved every day. The excellent work that Liberian health workers are doing is building confidence of the people in the health system, which results in more and more lives being saved from this very treatable illness.