About Us

We are an informal group of people with an interest in appropriate medical technology for the developing world. “Appropriate” equipment (in whatever location) will function and be useful and valued. This cannot be said about considerable quantities of equipment donated to healthcare facilities in areas of the world where necessary infrastructure and resources to support the equipment are lacking or unreliable. Similarly, inappropriate equipment is often purchased for developing healthcare facilities by local administrators with clinicians rarely if ever being consulted about the process. Appropriate equipment is that which will function safely and be adequately maintained in the prevailing conditions.

The acquisition of high-tech, sophisticated “1st world” equipment by a “3rd world” healthcare facility does not automatically transform the quality of local healthcare to that available in the affluent areas of the world. On the contrary, inappropriate equipment, however acquired, can be dangerous, costly in several ways and the cause of significant frustration. This continues to occur despite many and ongoing efforts to eliminate the practice. Medapteq is hopefully our contribution to a solution. We hope its smallness and simplicity will encourage its use by people with insufficient time to consult, in the first instance, one or more of the large, comprehensive and very valuable guidelines which exist. Amongst other things, we see our document as a guide to these guidelines.

Medical equipment selection and maintenance is the business of both clinicians and engineers, and therefore both clinicians and engineers are involved in what we are attempting to achieve with this project. Anaesthesia is an equipment-intensive discipline and it is natural therefore that anaesthetists take an interest in these issues. Thus the predominance of anaesthesia specialists contributing to our project.

The Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) is an organization with a commitment to appropriate medical technology for the developing world. IEE hosts a bi-annual seminar in London - “Appropriate Medical Technology for Developing Countries”. In February 2004 the convenor of the seminar, Len Cornish, presented, on behalf of Patricia Coyle, a poster/paper outlining the problem and an approach to a solution which formed the basis of Medapteq.

World Anaesthesia (WA) is a collection of anaesthetists in both the developing and the developed world. WA is linked to the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA).

Medapteq has been set up with the imprimatur of IEE and WA and there is considerable overlap between Medapteq and a similar resource maintained by IEE.

The members of Medapteq all currently reside in Sydney, Australia. As the project evolves we hope it becomes a more international affair!

Dr Patricia Coyle

Patricia Coyle is a member of a religious order and a qualified medical anaesthetist (anesthesiologist). Patricia has practical experience of developing country medical practice having worked in Africa, mostly Uganda, for 9-10 years (in national government employ). She has also worked in Pakistan and on the Thai-Cambodian border with International Committee of the Red Cross war surgery teams and most recently in East Timor with Medecins Sans Frontieres. Patricia is the driving force behind Medapteq and, while retired, maintains a strong association with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Dr John Loadsman

John is a Staff Specialist Anaesthetist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, holding a Conjoint Academic appointment at the University of Sydney. One of John's interests is the use of the Internet as an educational resource, hence his involvement in Medapteq as the "webmaster".

Dr John Keneally

John is a retired pediatric anaesthetist who worked until recently at the Westmead Childrens Hospital.

Dr Martin Turner

Martin is a biomedical engineer with the Department of Anaesthetics, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Along with a number of current research projects, Martin has a specific interest in the area of medical metrology (measurement).