capt. mike - 3-25-2013 at 07:46 AM
of interest to some - good charity.
Hello Team Samaritans
Got to start with the big news and the main event – It was a great clinic! Whale watching season was in high gear and we shared the Lopez airstrip
with more than 20 other airplanes from a Baja Bush Pilot’s trip. We had some concern the locals would be so busy taking care of the onslaught that
they would not make it to clinic.
Totally unfounded, the clinic was very busy across the disciplines. Most got a late start because of morning fog, but fortunately the longer days of
March allowed us to stay later in the day and take care of the many seeking our services. The providers were working hard and I heard many comment
that it was very rewarding to have such a strong clinic.
Without further ado, here are the results
as stolen from Alecia’s blog – “With one of the Samaritan planes arriving Friday to prepare the dental and triage for Saturday we were able to begin
seeing dental patients before the first flight arrived clinic morning, which allowed the dental crew to help 28 folks in general dentistry. We had no
hygienist this month to great disappointment of all. Our chiropractor was able to help 93 folks walk with a bit less pain and our eye doctor enabled
23 people have better vision. Our wound care nurse dealt with 4 folks while
Gynecology was kept busy serving the needs of 15 ladies. Pediatricians took care of 25 children during which time our general medicine doctors (one
from Constitucion) saw to the needs of 35 patients. For a number count that brought the clinic treatment number to a count of 223 folks helped who
would not otherwise have had medical care. Added to that number our pharmacy was able to fill 156 orders for medication bringing the total number of
clinic actions to 379.”
Just a couple of adders, that’s the highest count we’ve seen in a long time and I think a good string of consistent, well staffed clinics had much to
do with our success. I want to thank all of you who have volunteer for these last many clinics and allowed us to maintain this consistency. Also,
the patient count may be somewhat higher than the official total, because I heard our chiropractor may have seen 15 additional who arrived later in
the day and there may have been some additional in the other disciplines as well.
A few of those whale watching Baja Bush pilots were from the Phoenix area and we recruited them heavily. Fertile ground because when we try to sign
up new pilots the two concerns we hear are: 1) Not comfortable flying to Mexico and/or 2) don’t want to land on a runway that isn’t paved. Pretty
hard for a pilot to offer those excuses when you’re talking to him beside his airplane at Lopez Mateos!
As you can imagine, the flying weather was excellent and Friday night seafood at Equipales was a great feast for many. The pig roast at our hotel was
a popular choice for Saturday, encouraged by the somewhat later than normal return from clinic and mariachi entertainment. It’s hard to beat the
combination of pork, beverages and mariachis.
Next clinic will be April 19-21. Hope to see you there!
Notes from the current phx chapter prez.
Bob H - 3-25-2013 at 08:23 AM
Good stuff Mike ! Keep up the good work...
BajaBlanca - 3-25-2013 at 10:03 AM
whaqt an inspirational thread ! thanks for helping the less fortunate !
capt. mike - 3-26-2013 at 09:50 AM
thx, i was not on this trip but began flying for them in 1985.
tripledigitken - 3-26-2013 at 10:06 AM
Good to hear some are still stopping in Mulege!
Mula - 3-26-2013 at 10:23 AM
The Santa Barbara Aeromedicos who do to monthly clinic in Cadeje also stop at the Serenidad in Mulege for 2 nights or more a month.
They go to Cadeje on the 2nd Saturday of the month.
capt. mike - 3-29-2013 at 11:54 AM
Hi Mula - i know a lot of the Santa Barbara group, our clinic dates for years shared the same weekend and we all stayed at mulege. What has changed is
phx Sams are 3rd weekend now and SB is 2nd.
They do good things at Cadaje and are the only ones allowed use of the strip for the most part.