In rural settings like Northern Tanzania, critically ill patients face immense challenges when seeking timely and effective healthcare. The newly awarded seed grant focuses on enhancing the safety and quality of care for these patients at the Foundation for African Medicine and Education (FAME) hospital in Karatu.

The project aims to address the challenges of treating a high volume of critical illness in low-resource environments. One in eight patients admitted to African hospitals are critically ill, of whom one in five dies within seven days. By implementing a hybrid critical care curriculum, introducing essential new equipment, and enhancing staff training, this initiative seeks to strengthen hospital capacity and improve outcomes for critically ill patients at FAME, which has recently seen a 173% increase in emergency department encounters.

Key interventions include establishing a simulation-based training program focusing on critical care scenarios, implementing a portable transport ventilator for safe inter-facility transfers, and training healthcare providers in quality improvement methodologies.

Principal Investigator Ben Deverett, MD, said that he was excited to collaborate with partners at FAME who have specific actionable ideas to improve the quality of critical care they provide.“By introducing new equipment and training strategies to the hospital staff, we aim to help improve the quality of critical care provided to the large population that is served by the FAME hospital,” he said.

“The FAME story is one of hope, resilience and vision in rural Tanzania,” said Stanford Critical Care Fellow Didi Odinkemelu, MD. “As the hospital’s scope expands, I am excited about the impact our research will have on patient safety and improvement of outcomes for critically ill patients at FAME.”

Principal Investigators:

Ben Deverett MD, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Stanford Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine

Cynthia Khoo, MD, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor, Stanford Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine

Research Team:

Didi Odinkemelu MD, Critical Care Fellow, Stanford Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine

Funders:

Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health

Stanford Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine