planned giving - sign fracture care international · tacloban city until orthopods from philippine...
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Fracture Care International
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Contact Us
SIGN Fracture Care International
451 Hills St, Suite B
Richland, WA 99354
P: 509.371.1107
F: 509.371.1316
www.signfracturecare.org
Facebook.com/SignFractureCare
A designated fund at The Seattle
Foundation will match any donation
made to SIGN until December 31,
2013. Seize the opportunity to make
sure your contribution has twice the
impact to help others. Visit
www.signfracturecare.org to make
your donation today!
DOUBLE Your Impact!
NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
P A I D PASCO, WA MEDIAMAX
Stock Transfer A transfer of appreciated stocks is another way to make a direct contribution. By transferring appreciated stock, the donor will not have to realize any gains or pay tax on the transfer and may still claim the full fair market value of the contribution as a deduction. The tax benefits of this type of donation vary depending upon your income and the amount of the stock being transferred. Talk with your tax advisor to find out the advantages of making this kind of donation. Contact Debbie Maier at 509-371-1107 or e-mail: [email protected] to let her know your plans to make a stock transfer to SIGN so we can appropriately give you credit.
Planned Giving
The goal of SIGN in developing countries is to build
capacity for treating severe fractures. We do this by
educating surgeons and providing implants and instruments
they can use in developing countries. Not having to depend
upon C-arm and electricity makes the SIGN System
appropriate for use in disaster response. The capacity of
local SIGN Surgeons to respond to disasters has been
demonstrated by the Philippine surgeons’ response to
Typhoon Yolanda (Typhoon Haiyan*). What follows is a
surgical follow-up from Dr. Larry Diaz from the Southern
Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
- Lewis Zirkle, MD
November 26: I just came back from Tacloban City
for the orthopaedic surgical mission
together with Jake Morales,
Kristopher Tolosa, and Allan Herrera.
We coordinated with the department
of health to maximize what we could
offer as orthopaedic surgeons. I'm
proud to tell you that during our stay
there, we were able to deliver
effectively what we intended to do.
We worked at St. Paul's Hospital, a
private tertiary hospital in Tacloban
City, whose operation was
temporarily taken over by the department of health, as its
regular staff were also victims of Yolanda. We were lucky
their C-arm still worked however their MRI and X-ray were
damaged. A power generator was used day and night as
regular electricity was cut due to the super typhoon.
SIGN Responds – Typhoon Haiyan
For more information on the Philippines, please visit our blog
at www.signfracturecare.org/blog/. *In the Philippines the typhoon was called Yolanda. Internationally it
was referred to as Typhoon Haiyan.
We were able to do 29 ortho procedures. We did major
orthopaedic operations like SIGN nailing, ORIF plating,
external fixation, multiple screw fixation for femoral neck, lots
of debridements, and one Luque instrumentation for spine
injury. After four days of daily operations we finished all
admitted patients. We returned to Davao but the two senior
residents stayed until the 30th for the follow up of patients. I
heard they did a few more procedures for cases that came after
we left. They were joined by Dr. Alden Caalim, a native of
Tacloban City himself, and an ortho graduate from SPMC.
Our team did the first major orthopaedic procedures in
Tacloban City until orthopods from Philippine Orthopedic
Center/Manila came, followed later by a Chinese hospital ship.
As far as Tacloban City is concerned, I
believe that orthopaedic concerns have
been mostly addressed by now.
There's one thing that is certain, our
partnership made our patients happy and
gave them a glimpse of hope despite
what they've been through. We could
see in their faces the big transformation
before and after their operations. It's a
fulfilling experience. Thank you for
always being there in our times of need.
Ph
oto
: D
oc
tors
wit
ho
ut
Bo
rde
rs
Photo
: D
octo
rs w
itho
ut B
ord
ers
Carla Smith, M.D., Ph.D., a SIGN Board Member, recently accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington State Orthopaedic Association on behalf of her mentor Lewis Zirkle, M.D. Dr. Zirkle was visiting SIGN Program sites in Asia and was unable to accept the award in person.
Celebrate the season and help a person in need regain their mobility. Make a donation in someone’s honor this holiday season and we will send a lovely greeting card indicating that you have made a contribution in the name of your friends, relatives, business associates, customers, etc. Contact Shasta Meyers at 509-371-1107 to honor a loved one today.
Gift of Honor
Want to receive the newsletter electronically?
Send us your e-mail at [email protected].
*
2 3
I ventured to Ethiopia to fill in for Dr. Duane Anderson for six weeks. Soddo Christian Hospital (SCH) has become a major trauma center with 40 patients in the orthopedic beds. Making rounds on these patients is not easy or quick. We are accompanied by nimble and caring staff members who expertly change the many dressings on the multiple open wounds.
To keep up with all the rubber gloves used to change all these wounds, the staff washes, sterilizes and recycles the rubber gloves that are intact and useable. Also the sterile gloves we use in the OR are
similarly recycled. In order to keep up with the flow of all these cases we have to double up on tables in the OR, resulting in slightly crowded conditions. There is no complaining, however, and the staff are remarkably industrious and energetic, wheeling the cases in and out. SCH has a surgical training program that has four or five young doctors here at all times along with one or two orthopaedic residents from the university in the capital city, Addis Ababa. The abundance of surgical cases gives them ample opportunity to learn and practice doing these procedures. It is particularly enjoyable working with these gentlemen who will, in years ahead, be shouldering the load of caring for the needs in their country.
Creative Solutions
Bob Greene, MD, and his wife Elaine
spent the last several years living and
working in Africa. Dr. Greene
volunteered to fill-in for a fellow SIGN
Surgeon during a recent vacation. What
follows is an excerpt from his travel notes.
By Lewis Zirkle, MD
The patient wards in hospitals we visited in Myanmar
and Cambodia are the same as we saw on our original
visits many years ago. The economy is better but
unfortunately the poor patients are still needing help with
treating their fractures. We feel privileged to have built
capacity to teach and learn from the surgeons in these
countries.
The orthopaedic surgeons in each country gathered for celebration of the SIGN
10th anniversary in their country. Surgeons from different hospitals presented their
series of SIGN surgery. Results are very good.
In Cambodia, the SIGN Conference was followed by a conference held by
surgeons from Australia. These surgeons have been very supportive of the
Cambodian orthopaedic surgeons for many years. Their conference was also well
attended and focused on elbow fractures, compression syndrome and ex fix
techniques.
We operated in each country doing as much surgery as possible. We had a chance
to refresh the technique as well as observe that the instruments were well worn and
needed replacement—especially in Myanmar. We recognize this will be the case
in other programs and this will require further expenditures.
Our trip was enriched by Randy Huebner and Joel Gillard who accompanied us.
They’re both engineers and looked at the surgery through different filters –
“engineering filters”. They recognize many contributions which they can offer
SIGN such as new products which can be used in developing countries as well as
consideration for setting up biomechanical studies.
We are very honored to be the beneficiary of your fund-raising activity. This will encourage
us some more to do better than our very best and to continue serving wholeheartedly. As
you may know, our country was hit with the strongest typhoon in recorded history and the
damage to life and property is tremendous. We have already sent a team from the Southern
Philippines Medical Center to perform orthopaedic surgeries/procedures and help our
devastated brethren in Tacloban and Samar. Young as you and the rest of your Key Club
members are, you serve as an inspiration to all of us.
- Jun Valera, MD, Philippines
Key Club members from Yale Secondary School located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, wrote letters of appreciation and encouragement to SIGN Surgeons around the world. Below is a response from Jun Valera, MD, of the Southern Philippines Medical Center.
Surgeons from Southern Philippines Medical Center check on a survivor of Typhoon Haiyan following his surgery. Photo provided.
Building Capacity in Cambodia and Myanmar
For more information visit the SIGN
website at www.signfracturecare.org.
By Sami Hailu, MD, Ethiopia
Unlike most SIGN Surgeons, I got introduced
to SIGN in a time of need. It was three weeks
after I graduated from medical school when I
was involved in a motor vehicle accident and
broke my right thigh bone in two different
places. The accident happened 250 kms away
from Addis Ababa where the best centers in the
country were available. I had to be transported
six hours in a public minibus to Addis, and
arrived there past midnight. I believe that was
my worst car ride I can ever imagine in my life.
I was put on skin traction, got some analgesic
and got admitted to the hospital. It was during
this moment I got introduced to SIGN when I
asked what the options were to manage my
fracture. I waited for 16 days on skin traction
until I got my fractures fixed with a SIGN Nail.
Mind you, I waited this long with a broken
bone as a physician… I think it is not difficult to
imagine about the fate of my “poor” colleagues
who suffer similar and even worse injuries in
Ethiopia, who have no idea or means on how to
get to these centers when they break their bones.
I couldn’t think of specializing in anything else
other than to become an orthopod with this
experience. Literally speaking, SIGN made me
join the orthopaedics training program six
months after my accident. That is when I
realized SIGN has changed the whole practice of
orthopaedics in the department from what I knew
while in medical school. No more rows of
patients in traction, no more three months of
hospital bed occupancy for femur fractures. It is
indeed gratifying to see fractures fixed and
discharged walking in just a few days after the
injury.
I don’t have words to thank enough SIGN and
those who have been with me to help me walk
again and help others with similar injuries!
SIGN Inspires a Career
Patients recovering at Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
2 3
I ventured to Ethiopia to fill in for Dr. Duane Anderson for six weeks. Soddo Christian Hospital (SCH) has become a major trauma center with 40 patients in the orthopedic beds. Making rounds on these patients is not easy or quick. We are accompanied by nimble and caring staff members who expertly change the many dressings on the multiple open wounds.
To keep up with all the rubber gloves used to change all these wounds, the staff washes, sterilizes and recycles the rubber gloves that are intact and useable. Also the sterile gloves we use in the OR are
similarly recycled. In order to keep up with the flow of all these cases we have to double up on tables in the OR, resulting in slightly crowded conditions. There is no complaining, however, and the staff are remarkably industrious and energetic, wheeling the cases in and out. SCH has a surgical training program that has four or five young doctors here at all times along with one or two orthopaedic residents from the university in the capital city, Addis Ababa. The abundance of surgical cases gives them ample opportunity to learn and practice doing these procedures. It is particularly enjoyable working with these gentlemen who will, in years ahead, be shouldering the load of caring for the needs in their country.
Creative Solutions
Bob Greene, MD, and his wife Elaine
spent the last several years living and
working in Africa. Dr. Greene
volunteered to fill-in for a fellow SIGN
Surgeon during a recent vacation. What
follows is an excerpt from his travel notes.
By Lewis Zirkle, MD
The patient wards in hospitals we visited in Myanmar
and Cambodia are the same as we saw on our original
visits many years ago. The economy is better but
unfortunately the poor patients are still needing help with
treating their fractures. We feel privileged to have built
capacity to teach and learn from the surgeons in these
countries.
The orthopaedic surgeons in each country gathered for celebration of the SIGN
10th anniversary in their country. Surgeons from different hospitals presented their
series of SIGN surgery. Results are very good.
In Cambodia, the SIGN Conference was followed by a conference held by
surgeons from Australia. These surgeons have been very supportive of the
Cambodian orthopaedic surgeons for many years. Their conference was also well
attended and focused on elbow fractures, compression syndrome and ex fix
techniques.
We operated in each country doing as much surgery as possible. We had a chance
to refresh the technique as well as observe that the instruments were well worn and
needed replacement—especially in Myanmar. We recognize this will be the case
in other programs and this will require further expenditures.
Our trip was enriched by Randy Huebner and Joel Gillard who accompanied us.
They’re both engineers and looked at the surgery through different filters –
“engineering filters”. They recognize many contributions which they can offer
SIGN such as new products which can be used in developing countries as well as
consideration for setting up biomechanical studies.
We are very honored to be the beneficiary of your fund-raising activity. This will encourage
us some more to do better than our very best and to continue serving wholeheartedly. As
you may know, our country was hit with the strongest typhoon in recorded history and the
damage to life and property is tremendous. We have already sent a team from the Southern
Philippines Medical Center to perform orthopaedic surgeries/procedures and help our
devastated brethren in Tacloban and Samar. Young as you and the rest of your Key Club
members are, you serve as an inspiration to all of us.
- Jun Valera, MD, Philippines
Key Club members from Yale Secondary School located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, wrote letters of appreciation and encouragement to SIGN Surgeons around the world. Below is a response from Jun Valera, MD, of the Southern Philippines Medical Center.
Surgeons from Southern Philippines Medical Center check on a survivor of Typhoon Haiyan following his surgery. Photo provided.
Building Capacity in Cambodia and Myanmar
For more information visit the SIGN
website at www.signfracturecare.org.
By Sami Hailu, MD, Ethiopia
Unlike most SIGN Surgeons, I got introduced
to SIGN in a time of need. It was three weeks
after I graduated from medical school when I
was involved in a motor vehicle accident and
broke my right thigh bone in two different
places. The accident happened 250 kms away
from Addis Ababa where the best centers in the
country were available. I had to be transported
six hours in a public minibus to Addis, and
arrived there past midnight. I believe that was
my worst car ride I can ever imagine in my life.
I was put on skin traction, got some analgesic
and got admitted to the hospital. It was during
this moment I got introduced to SIGN when I
asked what the options were to manage my
fracture. I waited for 16 days on skin traction
until I got my fractures fixed with a SIGN Nail.
Mind you, I waited this long with a broken
bone as a physician… I think it is not difficult to
imagine about the fate of my “poor” colleagues
who suffer similar and even worse injuries in
Ethiopia, who have no idea or means on how to
get to these centers when they break their bones.
I couldn’t think of specializing in anything else
other than to become an orthopod with this
experience. Literally speaking, SIGN made me
join the orthopaedics training program six
months after my accident. That is when I
realized SIGN has changed the whole practice of
orthopaedics in the department from what I knew
while in medical school. No more rows of
patients in traction, no more three months of
hospital bed occupancy for femur fractures. It is
indeed gratifying to see fractures fixed and
discharged walking in just a few days after the
injury.
I don’t have words to thank enough SIGN and
those who have been with me to help me walk
again and help others with similar injuries!
SIGN Inspires a Career
Patients recovering at Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Fracture Care International
N
ov
em
be
r 2
01
3
Contact Us
SIGN Fracture Care International
451 Hills St, Suite B
Richland, WA 99354
P: 509.371.1107
F: 509.371.1316
www.signfracturecare.org
Facebook.com/SignFractureCare
A designated fund at The Seattle
Foundation will match any donation
made to SIGN until December 31,
2013. Seize the opportunity to make
sure your contribution has twice the
impact to help others. Visit
www.signfracturecare.org to make
your donation today!
DOUBLE Your Impact!
NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
P A I D PASCO, WA MEDIAMAX
Stock Transfer A transfer of appreciated stocks is another way to make a direct contribution. By transferring appreciated stock, the donor will not have to realize any gains or pay tax on the transfer and may still claim the full fair market value of the contribution as a deduction. The tax benefits of this type of donation vary depending upon your income and the amount of the stock being transferred. Talk with your tax advisor to find out the advantages of making this kind of donation. Contact Debbie Maier at 509-371-1107 or e-mail: [email protected] to let her know your plans to make a stock transfer to SIGN so we can appropriately give you credit.
Planned Giving
The goal of SIGN in developing countries is to build
capacity for treating severe fractures. We do this by
educating surgeons and providing implants and instruments
they can use in developing countries. Not having to depend
upon C-arm and electricity makes the SIGN System
appropriate for use in disaster response. The capacity of
local SIGN Surgeons to respond to disasters has been
demonstrated by the Philippine surgeons’ response to
Typhoon Yolanda (Typhoon Haiyan*). What follows is a
surgical follow-up from Dr. Larry Diaz from the Southern
Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
- Lewis Zirkle, MD
November 26: I just came back from Tacloban City
for the orthopaedic surgical mission
together with Jake Morales,
Kristopher Tolosa, and Allan Herrera.
We coordinated with the department
of health to maximize what we could
offer as orthopaedic surgeons. I'm
proud to tell you that during our stay
there, we were able to deliver
effectively what we intended to do.
We worked at St. Paul's Hospital, a
private tertiary hospital in Tacloban
City, whose operation was
temporarily taken over by the department of health, as its
regular staff were also victims of Yolanda. We were lucky
their C-arm still worked however their MRI and X-ray were
damaged. A power generator was used day and night as
regular electricity was cut due to the super typhoon.
SIGN Responds – Typhoon Haiyan
For more information on the Philippines, please visit our blog
at www.signfracturecare.org/blog/. *In the Philippines the typhoon was called Yolanda. Internationally it
was referred to as Typhoon Haiyan.
We were able to do 29 ortho procedures. We did major
orthopaedic operations like SIGN nailing, ORIF plating,
external fixation, multiple screw fixation for femoral neck, lots
of debridements, and one Luque instrumentation for spine
injury. After four days of daily operations we finished all
admitted patients. We returned to Davao but the two senior
residents stayed until the 30th for the follow up of patients. I
heard they did a few more procedures for cases that came after
we left. They were joined by Dr. Alden Caalim, a native of
Tacloban City himself, and an ortho graduate from SPMC.
Our team did the first major orthopaedic procedures in
Tacloban City until orthopods from Philippine Orthopedic
Center/Manila came, followed later by a Chinese hospital ship.
As far as Tacloban City is concerned, I
believe that orthopaedic concerns have
been mostly addressed by now.
There's one thing that is certain, our
partnership made our patients happy and
gave them a glimpse of hope despite
what they've been through. We could
see in their faces the big transformation
before and after their operations. It's a
fulfilling experience. Thank you for
always being there in our times of need.
Ph
oto
: D
oc
tors
wit
ho
ut
Bo
rde
rs
Photo
: D
octo
rs w
itho
ut B
ord
ers
Carla Smith, M.D., Ph.D., a SIGN Board Member, recently accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington State Orthopaedic Association on behalf of her mentor Lewis Zirkle, M.D. Dr. Zirkle was visiting SIGN Program sites in Asia and was unable to accept the award in person.
Celebrate the season and help a person in need regain their mobility. Make a donation in someone’s honor this holiday season and we will send a lovely greeting card indicating that you have made a contribution in the name of your friends, relatives, business associates, customers, etc. Contact Shasta Meyers at 509-371-1107 to honor a loved one today.
Gift of Honor
Want to receive the newsletter electronically?
Send us your e-mail at [email protected].
*