Closing the Capnography Gap in Somaliland 

Lifebox and the Capnography Gap in Somaliland

Capnography is a critical tool that monitors whether a patient is receiving enough oxygen during anesthesia. It helps detect one of the leading causes of anesthesia-related complications and deaths in low-resource settings: esophageal intubation — when a breathing tube is mistakenly placed in the esophagus instead of the lungs.

Without oxygen, brain damage and death can occur within minutes.

In high-income countries like the U.S., capnography has been the standard of care for decades — and it’s a key reason anesthesia-related deaths have dramatically declined. But in many low- and middle-income countries, this lifesaving technology is still unavailable in most operating rooms.

Lifebox, with partner Smile Train, is making capnographs available with the new Smile Train-Lifebox Capnograph (pictured below), an affordable, user-friendly, high-quality device ideal for use in low-resource settings.

Lifebox has donated 9 Smile Train-Lifebox Capnographs to hospitals in Somaliland, but the gap is far from closed. Somaliland needs 40 more capnographs to ensure every patient undergoing anesthesia is properly monitored.

It costs just over $1,000 to supply a capnograph. Please help us provide this critical tool to improve safety for all patients in Somaliland.