Day 1: Camp September 2011

It was looking like it was going to be a really hot day as I rode the Bucharest metro to meet our eager veterinary training camp attendees in the huge bustling square, Piata Unirii. We watched the crazy Bucharest drivers as we waited for Aurelian to pick us up for the 45 minute drive to the town of Giurgiu. I was excited about the small group we had joining us on this camp and was sure we were going to have a lot of fun.

Left to Right Lidia Nistor, Katy Orton and Sandra Patzner

As we settled into the journey we got to know a little better the people we would be sharing out skills and experiences with over the next 5 days. We were joined by two vets and one student VN. Sandra Patzner, a vet originally from Namibia now available as a locum based in Warwick, UK, Lidia Nistor, a Romanian vet from Botosani and Katy Orton a Student VN at Harper Adams University College, UK.

The journey passed quickly despite a slight scenic detour at the start and we soon arrived at our destination. Giurgiu is a small town near to the river Danube on the Romanian border with Bulgaria. Dr Petrisor Stefan (a.k.a Pepe) was waiting for us at the shelter with all of the equipment. We worked quickly in the little porta-cabin to set up our theatre for the week so we could go and meet the dogs we would be helping.

Giurgiu Shelter

You could feel the excitement in the air as we picked up the bottles of anaesthetic agents and a selection of syringes and needles and went out into the sun to meet and select the first dogs for surgery. We agreed on a pair of friendly young females and after a brief discussion on international differences in muscle choice for IM injections our dogs were asleep and ready to be prepared for surgery. Each dog was placed on IV fluids, intubated, clipped and scrubbed ready for spaying. The vets selected their instruments, draped the patients and we were ready to begin our first surgeries of the week.

The Team at Work: Katy Orton, Pepe Stefan, Lidia Nistor and Ruth Osborne

The concentration in the small room was intense as Aurelian and Pepe began to impart their surgical knowledge and the nurses got to grips with injectable anaesthesia. The morning’s surgeries went smoothly with the time passing by so quickly. After a fantastic lunch at a small restaurant in the town we got back to work. Despite it only being the first day we had already settled into a routine and we were working well as a team. Jokes and banter were beginning to flow freely as we became used to the new environment and drugs that we were using.

We were pleased with the start we had made on our first day with six females being spayed and two males castrated. The vets learned several new techniques and were ready to start perfecting them in the morning. We got back to Bucharest tired but satisfied with what we had achieved and already thinking about the dogs that we wanted to work with the next day.

Post Surgery