"It was our first time performing a thrombolysis procedure," said Dr Augusto Adelaide Pereira, an emergency physician at Suai Referral Hospital, located over 170 km away from Timor-Leste’s capital, Dili.
He was referring to the case of a 41-year-old man who arrived at the hospital complaining of severe chest pain and shortness of breath while out for an evening jog.
A swift diagnosis of a heart attack, followed by timely treatment in the hospital’s High Dependency Unit proved to be a timely life-saving intervention.“It helped that the hospital had a functional High Dependency Unit, and that I had undergone multiple emergency and critical care trainings which gave me the confidence to handle such a case,” said Dr Augusto."I feel I am extremely fortunate to have received the timely emergency care that saved my life," said Vitorino Sequeira Magno, the patient who suffered the heart attack, who now works as the Chief of the ambulance service in Suai.Suai Referral Hospital is one of 5 referral hospitals in Timor-Leste's remote, mountainous regions.
Patients in need of higher levels of care were until recently transferred to the national hospital in the capital city, Dili.