Answering the Call: How My Anesthesia Training Helped Save a Life

Written by Dr. Henry Kayera, Physicians for Peace Anesthesia Scholar, Set to Graduate December 2026 (Malawi)

2025 is one of the most exciting years for me as I have passed my junior residency examination and am now a senior resident. Through support from Physicians for Peace (PFP), I am able to continue excelling in my training.

For example, I am trained to handle different kinds of cases, both emergencies and scheduled cases and can make life saving decisions for my patients.

I manage the administration of spinal anesthesia and general anesthesia on my own and sometimes with minimal supervision from the consultant anesthesiologist. In the anesthesia department we currently have visiting anesthesiologists who are helping me to sharpen my skills as well as teaching me new skills that are pertinent in anesthesia. In addition, I am also involved in teaching year 4 medical students, so I am both teacher and student.

Currently I am still learning how to give regional anesthesia blocks for post operative pain management, which is especially important to anesthetize the hand, finger, foot or toe only.

I want to share my experience with you about a 37-year-old female patient who was referred from a rural district hospital to Queen Elizabeth central hospital, where I work.

The patient was referred to us for emergency special care, to deliver a baby after she underwent a cesarian section. The patient delivered a premature baby weighing about 1.3Kiligrams (2.86 lbs). After delivery, the patient started bleeding with postpartum hemorrhaging. She was taken to the operating theater for examination under anesthesia for a procedure to manually remove the placenta, which was necessary to stop the bleeding. Whilst on the operating theater table, she had a cardiac arrest due to severe loss of blood. We managed to do cardio pulmonary resuscitation and fortunately we were successful and managed to bring her back to life. The procedure was still ongoing on at the same time we were resuscitating her. We communicated with the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for specialized recovery care and monitoring.

We managed to source 4 pints of blood, which is not always possible in our setting, due to a lack of blood supplies. The patient was transfused 3 pints during the surgical procedure in the operating theatre and the other pint was transfused when we were transferring her to ICU. She continued doing well in ICU and her premature baby was sent to the pediatric nursery for specialized care.

The mother stayed in ICU for two days and was later discharged to the High Dependency Unit. Both mother and baby continued doing well in the hospital. The mother was later discharged and now continues taking care of her premature baby in the nursery. I’m happy to say her baby is doing well, also.

From this case what really came out to me is the role of the anesthetist in managing complications like cardiac arrest. Through support from PFP, in my training as a senior anesthesia registrar, I am able to take a leading role during emergencies and make critical decisions during life and death scenarios.

Henry Kayera