July 2003

TRIP NOTES

On Friday morning three planes departed from Santa Barbara Airport.  Pilots Chuck Montague and Robin Gauss had already left on Thursday.  The weather was a bit unpredictable and one plane encountered rain and a little turbulence in the San Felipe area.  The other two planes were able to enter Mexico in Ensenada.  The rest of the flight was great!  Pilots John Grube and Robin Gauss stayed in San Juanico and the rest of the planes stayed in Mulege.  The weather was quite warm in Mulege, but pleasant in San Juanico.

CLINIC NOTES

The dental clinic was in full swing by the time the planes arrived from Mulege.  The weather was warm but the registration table was well shaded with the brand new cover that had arrived via the “cargo” plane (thanks to Robin and Skylar).  The doctors went straight to work with the patients who had already signed in and were ready to be seen.

The dental department was quite busy, as usual, and as the morning progressed, the children started to arrive for the flouride treatments.  Thanks to Francie Naval, DDS, the youngsters got a treatment that was new to them, and tasted good, to boot!  Thanks to all the dental department who work so hard  and have to cope with some very difficult extractions along with their regular workload. 

The medical department went smoothly, with two “new to the clinic” doctors.  Harry Knaster, from the Bay Area, jumped right in and, with the help of his translator, Karen Blumenshine, was able to treat quite a few patients.  Patricia Stewart, because of her specialty, was able to treat many with dermatology problems.  Chuck Montague was able to treat the OB/GYN patients and also some of the overflow from the other doctors.   Thanks to all for a great job!    

Our new formulary and method of taking and distributing medicines was put to the test and survived quite well.  With Judy Jensen, RN, getting the pharmacy in order, all went well and we were able to supply the patients with enough medicine to last the summer.  We are still working out some kinks in the system and should have a good grasp of the workings come October. 

We also left Herlinda with enough medicine to give the regular patients who could not make it into the clinic this day.

VOLUNTEERS

Pilots:  Jim Gaskin, Robin Gauss, John Grube, Frank Heintz, Chuck Montague
Dentists:  John Grube, Francie Naval, Tad Suzuki, J. C. Ramirez
Dental Assistants: Pam Heintz, Marilyn Zellet
MDs:  Harry Knaster, Chuck Montague, Patricia Stewart
RN:  Judy Jensen
RMA: Lola Rosales (clinic coordinator)
Translators:  Karen Blumenshine, Susan Grube, Alex Maingot, Lola Rosales
Construction:  Jim Gaskin, Robin Gauss, Skylar Gauss, Frank Heintz

If you'd like to subscribe/unsubscribe to Aeronotes, click here.