Well, yesterday I went to talk to the person in charge of the health unit at seva to figure out what my project will be. It was presumed that I would take over where juleigh nowinski and jesseca sheng (other UICers) left off, which would be going into the villages to the health camps and making sure that the workers there were doing their job correctly (blood pressure, hemoglobin checks, referring when necessary, etc). However, next week is Holi week (an entirely new blog post to come in the future), so no one is going to be going out into the field. I was super disappointed! I asked what I could do to help out while in Udaipur, and Rudra (my coordinator) gave me the task of composing a booklet to give to the villages with information on preventing infant hypothermia and asphyxia, including parameters on when they should refer to a hospital. I'm excited to be contributing in a manner that is sustainable, but it is daunting to know that if I mess this up, it will have lasting effects (including possible infant death)!
I've done some research thus far on hypothermia and realized that it is far more common than I expected (mainly because it is getting so hot here couldn't imagine anyone being cold). I have found some practical methods of preventing it, but am reaching a dead end on how to know when to refer, simply because I'm not sure about the availability of thermometers in the rural areas. The sensitivity of simply determining hypothermia by touch is 25% for mothers and 34% by health care workers.... Not exactly a method I want to endorse.
Here's to hoping I get things figured out and will be able to help save lives even after my return to the states!
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