Today class continued with
orthopedic issues. First Dr. Susan McDowell completed her lecture from the day
before with various issues including fracture healing and arthritis. Arthritis is always a hot topic. The audience
response system was used to find the location of most common joint complaints of
people in the students’ villages. It was a little surprising to find out that
the knee joint was on the top of the list, followed closely by back pain and
then hand pain. We all anticipated back pain to be number one.
We were taken back when one of the
students asked if it was possible to restore function to one of his patients
with a gunshot wound to the shoulder. This Barefoot Doctor student works in a
refuge camp for internationally displaced people near the Burma-China border.
He did not say and we did not ask the how the man was shot. Everyone stayed
focused on the medical question and the basic answer that we gave him was that we
need more information, but we will show him how to properly evaluate and treat
this patient.
After lunch, Dr. Alice Astone and
Rick Astone gave the students each their own battery free, crank operated head
lamp. Dr. Alice then lectured and demonstrated the range of mobility, and
limitations, of the human body, and how we can increase its’ functional range.
To prove her point, she had all of the students lean back in their chairs and
then try and stand up without using their hands. For comparison, she then had
them all sit on the edge of their chairs and stand up. Some of our translators
were so amazed at the concepts that she presented, they had to try it for
themselves.
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| SAM splints and ACE bandange |
Dr. Alice Astone and Dr.
Susan McDowell also taught the students how to properly splint parts of the
body with SAM splints and ACE bandage. The students grasped the concepts very
quickly, and by the end of the session today, they knew how to splint, wrap,
check and make sure they didn’t splint their patient’s body part too tightly,
and how to make a sling. They used Rick Astone as a model for their splinting
and wrapping techniques. Receiving their splint wraps and elastic bandages was
one of the many highlights of the day for the
students.
Alice, Rick, and Lindsey
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