Flying Hospital' Takes Off

Although medical advances have helped the blind see, deaf hear, and lame walk, those in regions most needing medical attention often go untreated due to poverty and the unavailability of sterile surgical facilities or equipment.

To help, the Virginia Beach-based Operation Blessing International (OBI) has outfitted an L1011-50 wide-bodied jet as a "flying hospital." The outpatient medical unit will be able to treat up to 100 patients daily.

The aircraft, commissioned May 21, completed its first two-week medical mission trip to El Salvador July 8, where 7,000 patients were treated, including 187 surgeries. The rest of its first relief tour includes mission stops in Panama, India, Ukraine, and the Philippines. Eventually, the Flying Hospital is expected to make 13 to 15 trips annually.

The aircraft's missions, averaging ten days, are accompanied by off-site OBI clinics that screen and prioritize needed surgeries and perform follow-up and nonsurgical procedures. With the clinics, OBI expects to treat between 6,000 and 10,000 people each mission. Local doctors also receive hands-on experience plus closed-circuit video instruction. In El Salvador, OBI worked with more than 100 local professionals.

After each mission, OBI leaves behind medical equipment, supplies, medicine, and, on its first trip, four large air conditioners for the Santa Teresa Hospital in Zacatecaluca. It also assists in preventive measures, such as water purification. The 177-foot-long, $25 million jet has its own water purification and oxygen generation systems.

Although the staff of about 50--all but 15 of whom are volunteers--occasionally will deal with life-threatening situations, Thompson says they primarily will be involved in "life-changing procedures," such as cataract removal and cleft lip surgery. Cases in El Salvador varied from dispensing eyeglasses to removing ovarian cancer.