EDS
BRAZILIAN HEALTH EXPEDITIONARY
No amount is too small to make a difference.
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Working since 2004, EDS has served a demographic area the size of France since its foundation
SURGERIES
CONSULTATIONS
PROCEDURES PER EXPEDITION
DONATED GLASSES
History
Occasionally a group of friends, mostly doctors, organized hiking trips in the outdoors. In the year of 2002, when the group visited Pico da Neblina Mountain, in the state of Amazonas, they had the opportunity of visiting a Yanomami indigenous village.
Astonished with a reality much different from the one they knew, the group decided to change the focus of their travels and try to do something for the indigenous population of the region. To better understand how medical services worked in the region, they sought out the institutions responsible for local health care in order to plan an effective participation. Thus, in 2003, the EDS Association was officially structured.
Since then, the initial hiking trips have turned into medical expeditions to indigenous communities in the Amazon, giving rise to the “Operating in the Amazon” Program.
About us
EDS is a Brazilian non-profit organization created in 2003 by a group of volunteer doctors. Its main objective is to provide medical care, mainly surgical, to geographically isolated populations of the Brazilian Legal Amazon region.
Through the “Operating in the Amazon” program we offer services complementary to the already existing indigenous health care programs. The project carries out three expeditions per year with the intent of avoiding the relocation of patients and their families to urban centers, which can be costly and traumatic.
The largest number of surgeries accrues from the specialties of ophthalmology and general surgery. However, pediatric, orthopedic and gynecological surgeries of medium complexity are also offered. Complementary to this work, the team carries out medical consultations of various specialties, such as ophthalmology, general practice, pediatrics, gynecology, orthopedics and dentistry.
Working since 2004, EDS has served a demographic area the size of France since its foundation. All services are offered free of charge. In addition to its volunteer doctors, EDS counts on the support of other professionals and institutions in order to make its program viable. The sponsorship of companies, individuals and socially responsible institutions is also essential for the continuity of our work.
Mobile Surgical Center
The group’s distinctiveness lies in the use of a modern Mobile Surgical Center which enables the organization to bring surgical care to remote and geographically isolated locations. With each new expedition of the project “Operating in the Amazon”, 20 tons of equipment, medical supplies and medication are transported from Campinas, inland of São Paulo, to the most distant regions of the Legal Amazon. In order to makes this possible, EDS has developed an innovative and unique technology in the field of public health.
EDS volunteer engineers keep investing resources in the development and application of new technologies that made our Mobile Surgical Center even more efficient. The pioneer project in Brazil, formed by tents designed to the Forest needs, facilitate and expedite the assembly and disassembly of the Surgical Center and also add concepts that minimize contamination and increase the efficiency of the surgical environment. In addition also enabling modular transport of the cargo and drastically reducing its total weight, the Surgical Center has greater thermal efficiency.
The Mobile Surgical Center consists of two ophthalmic operating room, two operating room, one small procedures room, a lounging area for doctors, a waiting room for patients, a locker room and a Utensils and Sterilization Center (USC). The Surgical Center is also equipped with state-of-the-art medical appliances such as phacoemulsifiers, electrocauteries, multiparametric vital signs monitors, portable ultrasound, air conditioners with EPA filters, as well as autoclaves, water distillers, ultrasonic washers, sealers and biological testing of the USC. All energy consumed in the Surgical Center’s interior is provided by a group of generators, which total 160kva with backups.
The main goal of this new technology is to reach the most difficult areas in the Amazon, logistically speaking, guaranteeing the safety and comfort of patients and the excellence in the quality of services provided by the EDS team.