that contrast was difficult to take in, he said.
“i think we all have to reflect on how fortunate we are here in canada and in saskatchewan to have the availability of vaccines,” mendez said. “it makes a difference between life and death.”
without beds to spare in hospitals, mendez turned patients’ homes into miniature wards with the help of patients’ families and basic supplies.
he and bolivian doctors distributed kits of cardiograms, thermometers and other monitoring supplies, all of which could be wirelessly connected to a cellphone. by training family members how to use them, doctors were able to monitor patients at a distance and attend to them if they worsened, which freed up room in overwhelmed hospitals.
“the hospitals became full, so you actually had to work in the environment that was the home,” mendez said. “that is where the interventions had to be done, because there were no beds in the hospitals.”
“thousands of lives were saved using this simple technology that just communicates with your regular cellphone.”
that technology didn’t come out of a void.
mendez has been at the forefront of promoting virtual care technology in northern saskatchewan so doctors can help patients who are thousands of kilometres away. one device he employs allows a physician using a headset to see and examine a patient using a mobile robot, several of which are scattered around regional and remote hubs in saskatchewan.