Introduction: Between March 9th and 16th, an international group of volunteers visited Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The group consisted of cardiac surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, perfusionists, cardiac sonographer, and a critical care doctor. The group travelled from the USA, Australia, and Ireland under the auspice of a charity called CardioStart International. The basic mission of CardioStart is to educate and assist local medical teams in providing heart surgery and cardiac services to adults and children in underserved regions of the world, with a vision of a world where access to cardiac care can be realized by everyone. The following article will discuss the personal and professional experience of intensive care nursing, perfusion and cardiac sonography gained during this mission.
United Republic of Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa with a population of over 65 million people (United Nations, 2022). Even though Tanzania is one of the most politically stable African nations, it is an impoverished country, with over 25 million of the population surviving on less than 2 USD per day (World Bank Open Data, 2020).
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