A Post-donation Survey to Assess the Appropriateness of Medical Supply Donations to Freetown, Sierra Leone Following the Ebola Crisis

The Recovery of Equipment for Capacity building OVERseas (RECOVER) initiative at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School involves collection and donation of clean and unused medical supplies that would otherwise be discarded to those desperately in need of those supplies abroad. RECOVER has recently responded to the aftermath of the Ebola crisis and the even more recent mudslide natural disaster in Freetown, Sierra Leone, which had resulted in a considerable diminishing of the local medical supplies. The goal of this study was to assess the match between donated supplies and local needs by using a post-donation survey. In December 2016, we conducted a pre-donation survey inquiring which of the supplies available from RECOVER were needed by four hospitals in Freetown. The survey also asked about specific barriers to keeping such supplies in stock. After each hospital received a shipment of supplies, we administered an online Qualtrics (Qualtrics, Provo, UT) follow-up survey intending to assess the appropriateness of the donated supplies. The survey asked about which wards used what supplies, most useful items, ability to sterilize, and whether the donation provided supplies that would otherwise need to be bought. Recipient hospitals reported the use of 90% of donated supplies. The most useful supplies were gowns, scalpels, gloves, and drapes; All recipients reported the ability to sterilize donated goods. Supplies were used in operating rooms, emergency rooms, and medical wards. Donated supplies provided hospitals with supplies that would typically need to be bought or that were unavailable in the region. No adverse events were reported related to the use of donated supplies. At first glance, our donations appear usable and appropriate for the recipients. We hope to provide a framework for an objective measure of need for hospitals in other low-income countries, using the Freetown post-Ebola crisis as a pilot for the assessment of medical supply donations and the longitudinal impact it can have on global health and surgery overseas. More studies are required to further explore the possible implications of our program including those relating to medical waste management and environmental considerations when donating and shipping disposable supplies to a developing country.