THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220632
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
As hospitals go, this one will be small - just 177 by 19 1/2 feet, with 32 beds in one ward and small operating rooms.
On the other hand, not many hospitals can move lock, stock and syringe to another country within 48 hours.
Operation Blessing, the humanitarian arm of the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, said Monday that it will equip a jumbo jet for its medical strike force, which provides medical aid and missionary outreach to underdeveloped countries.
The announcement came as the strike force returned from its latest mission, to Romania.
Operation Blessing has spent $4.2 million to buy a Lockheed L1011, a three-engine, wide-body turbofan jet designed to carry passengers.
The group will spend another $16 million or so over 12 to 15 months to convert the 20-year-old plane into a medical facility.
Its operating room will accommodate up to six beds. Another section will be used as a ward, with 16 sets of double bunks. Workers will be able to raise and lower the bunks mechanically, using them as extra operating tables or lifting them to the ceiling to provide storage.
The flying hospital also will have a patient screening area, sterile supply closet, lab equipment and a kitchen, said Gary Stenner,manager of the L1011 project.
``In many ways it's like flying a hospital . . . out to the area,'' Stenner said.
Stenner and Dr. Paul R. Williams, director of Operation Blessing's medical division, said the plane will bring help to troubled spots much more quickly. Right now, arranging for the transport of supplies, equipment and personnel can take months.
The plane will solve another problem by carrying its own power generator and air system. Ventilation and power supplies are often unreliable in developing nations' hospitals.
The medical strike force aims not only to provide medical care, but also to offer training, supplies and, in some cases, equipment, to be used by local doctors after the Americans leave.
``They need to be able to carry on,'' Williams said.
For that reason, the plane likely will be used for basic family medicine and outpatient-type operations, rather than extremely complicated procedures.
An L1011 normally has about 384 seats, roughly the same as a Boeing 747, said Stenner. After the conversion, Operation Blessing's plane will hold about 60 seats, enough to transport some, but not all, of the volunteer medical personnel needed for a mission.
During the missions, the seating area will be used as a classroom to train local doctors in new techniques.
All the medical equipment in the plane will be installed in a way that makes it easy to remove or move around. That means the inside can be configured to match the needs of specific missions, said Stenner.
Williams said the strike force will continue serving areas inaccessible to the plane by using other transportation.
``There's hardly a country that doesn't have an airport that can handle it,'' he said. ``Some of the most backward nations in the world have big airports.''
Operation Blessing doesn't have all the money needed for the plane, said Patty Richardson, media relations manager for the Christian Broadcasting Network. The funds will come from corporate and private donations, officials said.
The group hopes to use the plane at least twice a month, Williams said. Operating costs will run about $6 million to 10 million a year.
Operation Blessing, which pursues a variety of humanitarian projects, has an annual budget of about $17 million to 20 million, not counting the plane, said Williams.
The medical strike force plans missions to two dozen countries over the next year. In December, the group will go to Colombia. ILLUSTRATION: Operation Blessing photo
Operation Blessing will spend about $20 million to buy and convert a
20-year-old plane into a mobile medical facility.
Color drawing by John Earle
[Operation Blessing airplane]
KEYWORDS: OPERATION BLESSING AIRPLANE by CNB