Dear madame
what a pleasant day it is to see Barbadian people living in harmony . My concern this evening is a very urgent matter
concerning the amputees of Barbadian .The disability unit of Barbados are carry out a program helping the disable
person in the island that can't afford to purchase prosthetic limbs one of them person is a young
man who been on the waiting list and can't get around with out the use of two sticks ' this is very important
to the people of Barbados in case of an emergency persons with one leg and can't get around would be carry away in the flood
and be trap in an emergency which would be putting more pressure on person to rescue such persons in an hurricane or
earth quake or any type of disaster . i am appealing to government to assist some persons who are in dyeing need
of prosthetic limbs as a matter of urgency to help such person on there feet to contribute to society as a person
and feel less depress to put more weight on there family when there can be on there feet and helping each other my warm
and sincerely congrats to your team
and may you solve this problem for many person in need of a urgent leg to walk on
sincerely yours
Submitted by Ray Mohammad
Dear Sir,
There is an issue with regards to providing prosthetic limbs to patients.
However, a prosthetic limb is a medical device. The provision of one inappropriately, can be equally as dangerous as not having one at all. Undue stress on the heart and sores caused by ill-fitting limbs can lead to an untimely death or further morbidity for these patients.
Thus, there is a process required prior to the provision of these limbs. Firstly the patient must be medically screened and counseled to ensure that he/she is an appropriate candidate for the limb. Next the patient must be trained not only on how to don an doff the limb but to ensure that they are cardiovascular you fit enough to handle the limb.
Only after they have passed through this, then the prosthetic is medically prescribed according to each patients individual needs which have been identified by the initial screening process. The prosthesis is then custom manufactured according to the prescription. Once completed it is then fitted and adjusted to the patient.
For the 5-8 years of the lifetime of the prosthetic, the patient and the device are then monitored and adjustments are made to suit in order to prevent complications. Due to the high potential of short and long term medical mishaps, the idea of “donated” or second -hand prosthetic devices is extremely dangerous and not recommended.
My suggestions to address your issue would be to increase the number of personnel required to provide these limbs; the setting up of a fund (be it public or private or both) which could help to subsidize the costs of these limbs -it used to be done in the past- and further concentrating our collective efforts into preventing people from losing their limbs in the first place!
Regards
