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In witnessing the tragedy of the earthquakes, the
team was deeply affected. SWF again returned to El Salvador, from
February 25 to March 2, 2001. With a larger team, SWF again worked
at Hospital Bloom with Dr. Bonilla and other members of the Bloom
staff. The team of Dr. Arnold, Dr. Kevin Hopkins, Dr. Schumacher,
Dr. Gonzales, Sheilagh Brosky, RN, Suzanne Walls, RN and Janice
Mauch, RN joined with other staff and residents from Bloom to
operate on 25 children. Again, the focus was on cleft lips and
palates. But the team also worked on several challenging
craniofacial and burn cases. Burns are a huge problem in El
Salvador, and their care occupies a large portion of the time of Dr.
Bonilla and the other dedicated plastic surgeons at Bloom. This
leaves little time for elective cases, like the various clefts and
craniofacial cases tackled by the SWF team. Consequently, many of
these children reach a relatively advanced age before their
operations can be accomplished, if they are ever operated on at all.
As such, the operations are more difficult and fraught with
complications than if they are carried out at an earlier, more
appropriate time. By working with the dedicated staff at Bloom, SWF
hopes to be able to improve the conditions and lives of many
children who would not otherwise be operated on.
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