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Small
World Foundation (SWF) began establishing a presence in El Salvador.
Beginning with a weeklong mission in November 2000, SWF traveled to
the small Central American nation three times during early 2001, twice
for surgical missions; and after the January earthquake for the purpose
of medical relief. In November 2000, the Foundation began its association
with the principle children's hospital in the country, Hospital Nacional
de Ninos Benjamin Bloom. Working closely with Dr. Antonio Bonilla, a
plastic surgeon on the hospital staff, the SWF team composed of Dr.
Larry Arnold (Small World CEO/plastic surgeon), Dr. Mike Schumacher
(anesthesiologist), Dr. Abel Gonzales (anesthesiologist), Dr. Mike Tolle
(SWF medical director) and Dr. Bonilla, along with other members of
the Bloom plastics staff, completed 12 cases. The cases were a good
mix of cleft lips and palates, hand cases, and skin grafts. The team
took care of a number of burns, all too common in El Salvador, with
the highlight being a one-month-old with a circumferential right leg
burn that required extensive excision and grafting. Happily on the
latest follow-up in March, the grafts have taken well and the child
is thriving. In January 2001, much of El Salvador was destroyed by a
massive earthquake. Dr. Arnold and Dr. Tolle returned to El Salvador
and participated in the relief effort. Joined by Lorena Garcia, who
coordinates SWF efforts in El Salvador, and several able hands, including
physicians from the national medical school and several international
organizations, the teams treated several hundred patients, both in the
principal refugee camp at Cafetolon, and in small villages scattered
throughout the country. While in El Salvador, the group experienced
the second deadly earthquake to strike the country. By the afternoon
of the quake, SWF's team was at the epicenter of the disaster treating
victims in the small village of Santa Maria Ostuma.
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