新型飞行眼科医院发展迅速

新型飞行眼科医院发展迅速 Many of the 285 million people who have visionproblems live in low-income countries, according tothe World Health Organization. The WHO says mostpeople with vision problems could be helped or cured– but only if they can get the right treatment. EnterOrbis and its flying eye hospital, the nonprofitorganization has a plane that is also a state-of-the-art eye clinic. The plane allows medicalworkers to perform vision screenings and operations around the world. Orbis has the world'sonly flying eye hospital. This June, it introduced its latest model, a MD-10 airplane donated bythe FedEx company. It is the third version of the flying eye hospital. Dan Neely of the IndianaSchool of Medicine is a volunteer doctor for Orbis. He has traveled to Jamaica, Southeast Asiaand Africa on the new plane. He says this plane has all the newest technology. Some facilitieson the ground do not. You can be in Zambia and the power goes out in the middle of thesurgery, Neely said. You can be there needing to scrub your hands for the surgery and youhave to use a bucket of water because the water's gone out. The CEO of Orbis is Bob Ranck.Ranck is a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general. Ranck explained that the new plane alsoincludes a classroom. Orbis uses the room to train doctors and nurses in the countries where itlands. He said Orbis teaches local health care providers to make it a priority to reduce cases ofblindness. Gary Dyson is a pilot who usually flies cargo planes for FedEx. But he volunteersflying time for Orbis. When you see a child who can't see on Monday and they can see onWednesday, you're hooked, Dyson said. The change in a patient's life after surgery can bedramatic, said Rosalind Stevens. Stevens is a volunteer doctor from the Geisel School ofMedicine at Dartmouth College. When we remove the patch the next day, the patient breaksinto a big smile, she said. The newest version of the flying hospital will make flights to a fewcities in the United States. Then it will provide a medical program in China in September. Orbisalso operates programs in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, China, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh,Indonesia and Latin America