THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090262
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 43 lines
Operation Blessing International's ``flying hospital'' - a jet equipped to provide medical care, from X-rays to surgery - on Monday announced the completion of its first medical mission.
A volunteer team of more than 70 medical professionals spent two weeks in El Salvador as part of the mission, treating more than 7,000 patients, said Dr. Paul R. Williams, chief medical officer of Operation Blessing, based in Virginia Beach. The U.S. team worked closely with more than 100 Salvadoran medical professionals, providing care on Operation Blessing's jet and at a hospital about an hour's drive from the capital city of San Salvador.
The teams provided a wide range of non-surgical medical care to most of the patients, and performed 187 surgeries, according to the group's press release.
Operation Blessing donated four large air conditioners for the hospital's operating rooms and some medicine for future patients.
Williams said Monday that two cases in particular stood out in his mind. They were a man and a woman, both in their 30s, who had been afflicted with strabisnus - or crossed eyes - since birth.
``They were at a point where they were ashamed to be seen in public . . . once they had had the surgery, they looked in the mirror and broke down and cried,'' he said. ``It was, for me, a very gratifying moment.''
Williams said he was also moved by a 6-year-old girl with spina bifida whose condition was helped by surgery to the degree that she probably will walk someday.
The girl, one of 12 children, had been brought to doctors after her mother heard about the plane, Williams said.
Volunteer physicians, nurses and lab technicians from the U.S. commit an average of 10 to 14 days per mission, taking leaves of absence from their work.
The wide-body jet, refurbished at a cost of $25 million, includes three surgical bays, pre- and post-operative recovery areas, dental treatment stations, a pharmacy and a training facility. It was unveiled in May.
Operation Blessing is an international relief group founded by religious broadcaster and businessman Pat Robertson. Its next mission is set for Aug. 3 to 18, to Panama. by CNB