We opened the year with a very successful clinic on January 17 offering general medical, pediatric, chiropractic and dental services, along with reading and sunglasses.
Rick Koril piloted the direct to Lopez Mateos plane and Pat McClure, Nolan Larson and Joe Granado took their volunteers to Loreto and then on to Lopez on Saturday morning. Loreto is now serving as our overnight base following the loss of the Hotel Serenidad in Mulegé.
Rick Koril, Shelly Collins, Bonnie Lassen and Judith Logan cleaned and prepared the clinic for Saturday morning.
General medical providers included Mark Brown and Marcus Canale (a first-timer with our clinic). Pediatric services were provided by Claudia Hart and our chiropractors were Neta and Gene Kimmel. Additionally, we had two dental hygienists, Erika Sales and Shelly Collins. Capably handling triage was Susan Canale. All the providers were kept busy all day. Our interpreters this month were Benita Winrow, also a first-timer, Joe Granado and Bonnie Lassen. We were fortunate to have two Spanish speaking general medical doctors.
Nolan Larson and Rick Koril distributed reading glasses and sunglasses and Pat McClure handled the sterilization for dental instruments.
A bonus service this time was Katherine Stradling and her organization, Hands to Heart, who provided HPV screening for cervical cancer. In addition to providing local women with self swab tests, Katherine also checked out the condition of our AEDs. Assisting her was Trey Hunter and Kimberly Goff interpreted for her.
Once again, Roberto Logan provided us with a delicious lunch.
Our officers and our coordinators serve as the team management group who organize and put together these clinics. Right now we are in need of a Dental Coordinator, Triage Coordinator, Pharmacist and Optometry Coordinator. Also, if efforts could be made by all members to recruit dentists, dental hygienists, chiropractors, optometrists, pharmacists and nurses it would be most appreciated. We are in need of those areas in particular, but also always look for interpreters and pilots as well.
Our monthly administrative meetings take place on the first Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Chandler Airport Conference Room. If you have an interest in attending, you are always welcome to do so.
The next clinic is scheduled for February 21st. Please contact your coordinator to sign up for this trip. For the time being Gail Brown is the contact for triage and Bonnie Lassen is the contact for Dental. Our website, www.flyingsamaritans.com has our contact information.
Thank you to all the volunteers who contributed their energy and time to the January clinic.
Bonnie Lassen
President/Interpreter Coordinator