THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220168
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LENGTH: 124 lines
Operation Blessing unveiled its new Flying Hospital here Tuesday with former President Bush praising supporters of the Virginia Beach group for ``claiming society's problems as their own.''
Bush was the keynote speaker at the event, which attracted about a thousand supporters and a dozen or so foreign diplomats.
Operation Blessing is an international medical relief group founded by religious broadcaster and businessman Pat Robertson and based in Virginia Beach. The Flying Hospital, a converted airliner, will be used for Operation Blessing's missions.
The crowd gathered in a steamy hanger at Washington Dulles International Airport, sipping ice water and fanning themselves with programs.
The former political rivals beamed at one another as together they pulled a gold lever to signal the opening of the hanger doors.
With a trumpet fanfare and the clanging of a warning bell, the doors slid open to reveal the 177-foot-long L-1011, emblazoned with ``Operation Blessing.'' Robertson flashed Bush a triumphant thumbs up.
In Bush's brief remarks, he called Operation Blessing one of the ``thousand points of light'' - the phrase he used during his presidency to describe the importance of private activism.
``When I see a mission like this, I see America at its very best,'' he said. ``And besides, it has its underpinning of faith that I think our country is crying out for.''
Bush and Robertson once were rivals for the presidency. Bush spoke for free Tuesday, and both men described themselves as friends.
``If the audience will excuse me a little political reference I wish you had won in '92,'' Robertson said to applause.
Bush cut a blue ribbon wrapped around the plane's log book, then became the first to sign it.
Ana Cristina Sol, El Salvador's ambassador, also spoke. The plane's first mission will be to El Salvador.
``Thank you for your unselfish love and dedication to humanity,'' she said.
Afterward, Robertson stood on the runway by the plane and wiped his brow.
``It was almost as if God himself went before us,'' he said. At every turn in the 18-month project, they ran into good luck, he said, from finding a plane in very good condition to finding companies willing to work on the plane for a reasonable price.
``I think this is sort of a life-giving experience to all of us today.''
The Dulles event is a first stop in a tour that will take the plane around the country over the next three weeks, to show it to supporters of the $25 million project.
The Lockheed L-1011 widebody jet cost about $25 million to buy, refurbish and stock. Before its redesign by Operation Blessing, the plane was used for Los Angeles and San Francisco commuter flights, and then by a charter airline.
Operation Blessing liked the plane because it had the air-travel equivalent of low mileage.
The flying hospital is scheduled to visit four countries in 1996, and will start its maiden voyage on June 29, when it leaves Norfolk for a two-week stay in El Salvador. It goes to Panama in August, Ukraine in September and India in December.
A typical mission will cost from $350,000 to $500,000, including supplies, insurance and fuel. The medical teams for each mission - which can include as many as 150 medical professionals from around the United States - are mainly composed of volunteers.
Half of the team for each mission will arrive early to prepare, bringing most medical supplies with them. After each mission, a few members of the team stay for a week to keep an eye on patients.
Operation Blessing will work in cooperation with local governments to bring in patients and local doctors who will get training in surgical and health care techniques.
A plane this large won't be going to remote areas. But even in cities, the extra operating suites are needed so the Operation Blessing team doesn't overwhelm facilities at local hospitals.
``We are expanding the surgical capacity of that hospital, and with state-of-the-art equipment,'' said Dr. Paul R. Williams, chief medical officer of Operation Blessing. ``I would not have any hesitation to be operated on in this facility.''
The jet boasts the accessories of a small hospital - though with a lot less elbow room.
At the rear is an operating room with three tables that can be separated by curtains and used simultaneously. The room is packed with equipment, most of which must be bolted down for flights: surgical microscopes; overhanging lamps; chrome buckets; a light panel for viewing X-rays; a machine for creating digitized X-rays; and an electrocautery, an instrument that cuts and cauterizes at the same time.
In front of the operating room is a compartment that serves as pre-operative and recovery room. The plane also has a room with upright chairs that can be used for dental and eye procedures, a pharmacy, sterile supply and a scrub area.
Most of the operations done on the plane will be out-patient procedures, which allow the patient to go home within a day. Doctors will be able to do a range of medical and dental procedures, including cleft lip and palate surgery, cataract removal, repairs to injured or malformed hands and feet, and emergency trauma treatment.
At the front, the passenger seating area can be converted into a medical training classroom when the plane is on the ground. A large screen can show educational videos, or relay the action from a camera suspended over one of the operating-room tables.
The plane has a back-up support system which allows it to work even if local power fails. There are three generators, two of which can run on jet fuel siphoned from the plane; a water purification system; and an air compressor to help drive air through the oxygen generators.
For the next nine months or so, it will be stored in Tucson, Ariz., where the dry climate helps reduce wear.
Organizers hope to move the plane to Hampton Roads eventually, if a facility can be built for it. The equipment-packed plane weighs 300,000 pounds without fuel and will need a reinforced area for parking. MEMO: Operation Blessing needs volunteers for the El Salvador mission,
particularly anesthesiologists, ophthalmologists and operating room
nurses. To volunteer, call 804-579-3902. ILLUSTRATION: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN color photos/The Virginian-Pilot
Dr. Paul R. Williams, above, chief medical officer for Operation
Blessing, leads a tour of the operating area's three-bed suite.
The organization will work with foreign governments to bring
patients and doctors aboard for medical care and training in
surgical and health care techniques.
Graphic
VP
OPERATION BLESSING INTERNATIONAL FLYING HOSPITAL
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm] by CNB