May 2006

TRIP NOTES

Seven planes and one car left from the following towns: Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, and San Diego. The car, loaded with medical supplies, left earlier and drove 17 hours to Mulege. We had a bit of headwind going into Mexico and a bit of tailwind coming back on Sunday. Most pilots left early on Sunday morning to beat the storm predicted for Southern California.

SPECIAL TRIP NOTE

After working with the office of Lois Capps to get a Humanitarian Visa for Angel Aguilar to have plastic surgery for his face and eye, I called 5 pilots to fly Angel and wife Yadira to San Diego on Wednesday the 24th. Four pilots accepted and one offered to pay the expense. We are very proud of our pilots dedication. Don Briggs flew down to Mulege on the 24th and flew back to Tijuana on Thursday where Angel and Yadira were met by a fireman from San Diego named Mike Niezic who picked up the visas and will be hosting Angel during his surgeries. The surgeries have all been donated by a local group in San Diego.

CLINIC NOTES

Saturday was warm and clear when Ted Kenney left for Cadeje. He soon radioed back, however, that Cadeje was completely overcast. The rest of the planes left Mulege 1 1/2 hours later and were able to land without any difficulty. Triage worked quickly and the family nurse practitioners were able to start treating patients in a timely manner. Everyone worked efficiently to get vitals, blood sugars, and charts in chronological order. We were able to treat at least 50 patients and dispense and refill medications to all. Thanks to the newcomers who worked hard and improved their communication skills at the same time. Please come again! Bobbi Bliss and daughter Heather were able to keep the pharmacy busy filling and keeping inventories of all dispensed meds.

One sad piece of news was that Herlinda and Ramon would no longer be able to care for the clinic during our absence. Herlinda cited health problems for this departure. We will all miss her and, on behalf of Aeromedicos, Lola thanked her for nine years of dedicated service.

DENTAL CLINIC

With efficient screening by Marilyn Zellet, the dental group ran smoothly. Jennette and Stu were able to see all patients and finish on time. Karen ran the sterilization.There is a need for a special denture clinic in the future.

MAY VOLUNTEERS

Pilots: Craig Arcuri, Brian Coryat, Jim Gaskin, Frank Heintz, Ted Kenney, Roni and Stu MacPherson, Ross Rankin
FNP: Myra Cochran, Carol Gemberling
Dentists: Stu MacPherson, Jenette de Guadalahara
DAs: Roni MacPheson, Marilyn Zellet
Dental Helper: Karen Yule
RN: Bobbi Bliss
RMA: Lola Rosales
EMTs: Herlinda (resident), Heather Bliss, Joel Chappel, Sandy Burney, Mira Kazemi, Pouneh Naseri, Alissa Monticelli, Jenner Tiscarini , Laura Cataldo, Leslie Valle
Helper: Margo Kenney
Interpreters: Sandy Burney, Brian Coryat, Leslie Valle, Marilyn Zellet

JUNE TRIP

Next trip will be June 23rd. Volunteers should call Melodi at (805) 736-7123.

Pre-Trip Potluck: The potluck will be held on June 14th at the home of Silvio and Mary Diloreto. Click here for map and more info.

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