Today was our first day at the clinic. We had a constant stream of patients to see all day long. The therapists worked with patients in a large room where they performed evaluations and treatments on people. Those who were in need of orthotic or prosthetic care were sent back to us in a small examination room that was adjacent to the fabrication room. Our first day was a pretty intense case load of both pediatric and adult patients in need of leg prostheses and various orthotic devices ranging in complexity. After evaluating and measuring a number of patients we all worked together to create a Hip Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis (HKAFO) for a patient with paralysis from mid trunk down. After about 5 hours of intense team work between Mike, Frankel, Buddy (Frankel's assistant), and myself, we were able to have the physical therapy team work with the boy to stand up and begin to learn to walk again for the first time since he became paralyzed.
Pictures include a few of the little patients that we were working with today.
Labels: haiti, prosthetics, travel