Internet Communication Technology (ICT) probably saves thousands of lives each day in the developed world. But you would have never expected ICT's life saving impact in the Congo.
Congo has limited use of ICT. Most Congolese has very limited internet access. Also, the cell phone companies are just rolling out multimedia message (MMS). So it is usually for ICT to save a teen's life.
News - Africa: SMS instructions save teen in DRC:
"London - A British doctor performed a life-saving operation on a teenage boy in the Democratic Republic of Congo by taking step-by-step instructions for the complicated surgery via SMS from a colleague in London.
David Nott, a 52-year-old vascular surgeon who works for Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), found the 16-year-old boy with his left arm ripped off and gangrenous in the town of Rutshuru in October, British media reported.
'He was dying. He had about two or three days to live when I saw him,' Nott said. The boy had been caught up in the fighting between rebel and government forces, he said. Nott realised the boy's best chance of survival was a forequarter amputation, which required removal of the collar bone and shoulder blade."
Thursday, December 4, 2008
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