Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION 16 September 2016 by Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer retrofitted plane, is far from typical. The MD-10 is flown by an intrepid team of volunteer pilots from FedEx. Gary Dyson, the chief pilot, was in the cockpit during EyeWorld's visit, and explained that volunteers for specific flight missions are chosen from a pool of about 18 specially selected volunteers—and that's not for a lack of interest among others to join this exclusive list. What's more, the pilots devote their own vacation time to these missions. Moving from the cockpit through the classroom, Joni Watson, a communications consultant for Orbis, points out how the floor isn't as bouncy on the cargo plane com- pared to passenger planes, making it more conducive to surgery. In the laser and examination room, ready for use, is a slit lamp, an Nd:YAG la- ser, and a surgery simulator to allow trainees to practice their skills. Next, a glass observation win- dow reveals the operating room right over the wings, which Ms. Watson said is the most stable part of the plane, hence the location of the surgical suite. Before heading into the operating room, she points and medical technologies, but also through its 3-D broadcast capabil- ities that can stream live surgeries into hospitals and classrooms away from the plane, allowing for more interaction and greater impact." Boarding the Flying Eye Hospital The retrofitting of its latest iteration, an MD-10 aircraft, with a classroom, operating room, recovery room, AV room, and more took 6 years. Stepping on board, to the left is a classroom of 46 blue airplane seats facing a television that can broad- cast live the happenings in the OR as well as other pertinent informa- tion. The local doctors who will sit in these seats, depending on what's on the screen, might even don a pair of specialized glasses to see a 3-D view from the surgeon's microscope. "I am really excited about the 3-D microscope," said Antonio Jaramillo, MD, who joined the Orbis team as a full-time ophthal- mologist 2 years ago. "That one is good because it is so hard to explain depth when you have a 2-D screen." The cockpit, while pretty stan- dard compared to the rest of the physicians, nurses, and other hos- pital staff around the world. It flew its previous Flying Eye Hospital on board a DC-10-10 aircraft well into 2015. In 2015 alone, more than 2 million screenings and exams were performed on the Flying Eye Hospital and at partner institutions, in addition to 30,000 trainings for doctors, nurses, eyecare workers, community workers, and other volunteers. In that same year, 65,558 eye surgeries—24,277 of which were pediatric—were performed under the Orbis umbrella. "From the very beginning, the Flying Eye Hospital has opened doors and created opportunities for Orbis to do far more than train medical professionals," said Bob Ranck, president and CEO, Orbis International. "Equal parts teacher, envoy, and advocate, it has helped us speak to the world about eye health, attract investment, and cre- ate permanent, sustainable change in the countries we serve. Our third generation Flying Eye Hospital will be able to do even more—not only because of advancements in aviation On board the new, third generation Orbis Flying Eye Hospital F rom the far end of the economy parking lot at Reagan National Airport, just outside of Washington, D.C., one plane stood out above the sea of travelers' cars and fences that blocked them from the tarmac. It wasn't just the fact that this plane's sheer size dwarfed other aircraft on the private fixed base operator—it was a former FedEx cargo plane, not a passenger jet—but emblazoned across its fuselage were the words "Flying Eye Hospital." Orbis International, a nonprof- it devoted to fighting preventable blindness around the world, intro- duced its third generation Flying Eye Hospital in June as the world's only non-land-based hospital accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities International. Orbis first launched its Fly- ing Eye Hospital on board a DC-8 aircraft in 1983 to educate eyecare World's only Flying Eye Hospital

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