Topic: Remote Area Medical: health care for people in rural & urban areas
Topic Posted by: Elie
Date Posted: Mon Jul 14 1:01:54 2008
Additional Comments: The show on RAM was shown again on '60 Minutes.' RAM was started to help people in remote areas of the world. Now 60% of their work is in rural and urban areas of the United States. It's an all-volunteer organization that gives people free health care, dental care and vision care.
One man said he had been waiting in line for seven hours. He had an infected tooth pulled: it had been causing him pain for several weeks.
In an expedition to Knoxville, 920 people were seen; 500 people got glasses; there were 94 mammograms; 1,066 teeth were pulled and there were 567 fillings. 400 people were turned away.
When the show was first aired, the founder of the organization said that they got by on a budget of a little over 200,000 dollars a year. Since the show aired, they got donations totalling two-and-a-half million dollars.
Medical personnal don't have to travel to third world countries to find people that need medical care.
Posted by: Elie Date posted: Mon Jul 14 12:57:47 2008
Message: As soon as I saw the man with the infected tooth who had been waiting for seven hours, I could see the pain and sadness that he felt. I could see the haunting expression in his face and his eyes... even before he started talking about why he was there.
Posted by: cook Date posted: Mon Jul 14 11:37:54 2008
Message: What a terribly vulnerable position those people are in!
Posted by: Pronoun Date posted: Mon Jul 14 11:14:24 2008
Message: I saw that. I hope it changes some folks mind about universal health care in the U.S. but I doubt it.
"Medical personnal don't have to travel to third world countries to find people that need medical care". How true. While it's good to reach out to those who need our assistance in third world countries, it's important to remember how many Americans (and Canadians) also need our support. The saying 'charity begins at home' is a valid one.
Posted by: farmer brown Date posted: Mon Jul 14 9:19:18 2008
Message: People who provide medical care to the poor are doing the Lord's work, whether at home or aboard.
