Hanger Klinik

As I already mentioned, the Hanger group built a clinic in partnership with Hopital Albert Schweitzer shortly after the quake.  Hanger has been steadily sending prosthetists to cast, fabricate, and fit limbs on site.  There are currently four prosthetists--three from the US, and one from Switzerland, a few prosthetic techs, and four therapists.  Two of the therapists, Karen and Maureen, were a welcome surprise—they originally had planned to volunteer at a hospital in Port-au-Prince, but plans fell through and they came to work here.  We are so happy to have them, as there are about 30 patients to evaluate and treat on a daily basis.  It’s a huge advantage to work side by side with the prosthetists, because we can collaborate to quickly identify fit issues and fine-tune alignment. 

The patients constantly amaze me with their hard-work, patience, and determination to walk.  They often go from initial fitting to walking with one crutch or a cane in a matter of days.  We have two sets of parallel bars for gait training, a ramp, and a set of stairs. Most patients with transtibial amputations achieve safe and independent ambulation over even and uneven surfaces in one week.  Some patients with transfemoral amputations or more elderly patients stay for up to two weeks.  Remember Nahomie?  She received her limb and took her first steps with one axillary crutch today.  She’s progressing well over the limb and weightshifting with more ease.  There were a few fit issues, so we decided to keep the limb for adjustments and bring it to her later on in the afternoon.