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He is a specialist in intensive care and works to reduce the refusal of the donation. He refers that in a pandemic the work is basically double because many people say no to donations and that translates into a decrease of almost 70% of donations to the country.
Dr. Elsa Escalante is an intensivist, is 39 years old and also has a master’s degree in public health and hospital administration. She said that she is single, has no children, and tries to maintain her peace of mind through exercise. He has a personal trainer and he usually travels, but now that can’t be done, so he says that his ground wire is the gym with his trainer.
He mentioned that he does not come from a family of doctors, but he always said that he wanted to study medicine and when he was in college he always said that he wanted to do his residency at IPS and it came out. “I consider myself too blessed because so far everything I have set out for myself has come out. My family is used to my absence, to having to be late for birthdays or lunches, it is already a lifestyle for them that I have to be absent, “he added in contact with La Nación.
Regarding how he started in the transplant area, he recalled that at the time he was on duty in a private sanatorium, he met Professor Dr. Fernando Daponte, who encouraged him. “He told me that he saw me with the profile. That is how I ventured into organ donation. He was the one who kicked me, ”he said.
He pointed out that this is how he went to do a course that the National Transplant Organization of Spain offers every year and every year the call is opened but the Ministry of Health is the one that has to propose or apply for the professional to go. “I left in 2016, before I was on duty 100% care therapy at the Social Security Institute (IPS) and at the National Hospital of Itauguá (HNI), which I am until now. I am also in the Paraguayan intensive therapy society because it is a branch of intensive therapy that you generate donors, “he explained.
He remarked that the procurement of organs and tissues speaks of the quality of care in intensive care. “If you generate donors then it means that you supported that patient well, that’s why after he died he was able to donate his organs,” he said.
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Elsa indicated that she is a hospital coordinator at IPS and at the National Institute of Ablation and Transplantation (INAT) she is the national coordinator that includes everything that is an operation, from the detection of a possible donor to the extraction of those organs, a whole Logistics. “Also the accompaniment in the stage of loss of that family that is rather a situation of help that we do. To try that that family that loses a loved one finds a meaning in the midst of that pain ”, he stated.
He stressed that he has been in the transplant area since he returned from doing his master’s degree, which was in 2016. Since 2016 partially and already in 2017, 100% of the therapy was transferred to the transplant department.
“I am also with everything related to the preparation of projects, protocol adjustments to improve everything related to the donation process in our country. We work on the brain death protocol, everything that is dengue, what is COVID. I am the link between INAT and the different systems involved, ”said Escalante.
He stated that last year for the first time we appeared on the school calendar of the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC). “It was achieved through a project with them. It was officially dealt with in schools between 7th, 8th, and 9th. degrees through comics, “he said.
The doctor described her day-to-day life as follows: “My days are in the HNI therapy, doing assistance in multipurpose therapy and then always working closely with everything that is the donation and the rapprochement of the family that has lost a being dear to give it another meaning. But I am 100% with everything that is the hospital, I can never disconnect. Now we have returned to a stage where transplants are anecdotal, you cannot leave any point to chance. You neglect yourself and it’s like a domino effect, ”he explained.
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He stressed that as operations decreased a lot, having one, you must be 100% aware that everything goes well. “A donor that you lose is the only opportunity for many people who are waiting. A donor can give you a heart, two kidneys, bone tissue and cornea, everything has to be orchestrated so that it can benefit 100% to the people in need. With a donor more than 8 people can benefit ”, he assured.
Regarding COVID-positive patients, he mentioned that they are contraindicated to organ donation. “They cannot donate. With active COVID infection, you cannot be a tissue or organ donor. If you meet the criteria for a cure, you can be a donor. As long as the direct cause of death was not due to COVID, it could be a donor ”, he clarified.
Finally, he spoke about the situation that exists with the pandemic and the donation. “What we do now is try to work on the strengths. The work is basically double because people are tired, doctors are tired and that translates into a decrease of almost 70% of donations for the country. There are people who die on the waiting list, waiting for a heart transplant. All this that we are experiencing also translates into many people saying no to donation. It is very difficult, but we continue to have faith in the people ”, he emphasized.
He also commented on the closest project they have and that is to work on reducing the refusal of the donation. “We are doing a joint work with the Unique Central National Institute for Ablation and Implant Coordination (Incucai) of Buenos Aires, because we have the same law,” he said.
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