'A life-changing experience'

Manatee Technical College is in business to educate people.

It is probable, though, that the lessons delivered on Saturday and Sunday were its most important.

Just under 1,500 people took advantage of the Remote Area Medical group's clinic that offered free medical care to those in need.

"This is a life-changing experience," said Dr. Dick Conard, the event chairman. "Over the years, I've seen a lot of examples of man's inhumanity toward his fellow man. Today, I am seeing the opposite. These professionals have stepped forward to make a difference."

Conard said 2,563 "encounters" were recorded, meaning a person saw a dentist, eye care professional or doctor. Many people saw multiple doctors, so the exact amount of people served had yet to be finalized on Sunday afternoon as the medical equipment was being packed up.

"Absolutely this was a great way to give back to the community," said Doug Wagner, the principal of Manatee Technical College. "It was great for our students to see how the skills they are learning can be applied."

The event had 740 registered volunteers but another 300 or so volunteers worked the booths which were available to patients. Those booths distributed health-related information or gave out children's books. More than $1,200 in books were distributed the two days and more than 500 bags that were stuffed with health information were handed out.

More than 500 people attended  a "no smoking" class that was offered and 467 pairs of glasses were made and distributed.

Conard said the event was so successful that a second RAM event at Manatee Technical College will expand to a three-day event held next Nov. 11-13.

"It's time to take this discussion to another level," Conard said about providing free health care to those in need.

Conard estimated that just under $1 million of medical care and service was delivered in the two days.

Sarasota's Christy Benson McCoy was one of the patients.

"I haven't had dental insurance the past four years," she said as she waited for her No. 281 to be called so she could have a lost filling replaced. "I just started working again."

She showed up in the early morning hours on Saturday and was handed her number about 2:30 a.m. Once she secured a number, she was able to go home before coming back later Saturday morning. Just after noon, she had waited about four hours, but she didn't mind.

"Our teeth are important," she said. "And now I'm four people away."

Although people could have showed up early on Saturday afternoon with a chance of seeing a medical doctor or an eye doctor, the dentists were booked up and people were being turned away. They had a second shot by starting to line up by midnight on Saturday night, but all the remaining appointments for dentists or eye care professionals on Sunday were handed out by 3:30 a.m. on Sunday. 

Bradenton's Emma Markum, a Manatee Technical College employee, worked getting people registered and she said the overwhelming number of people were patient with the process. "This has been a very organized, smooth operation," she said.

Mandy Steffen, another Manatee Technical College employee who worked alongside Markum, said she would volunteer again on Sunday. She loved what she had seen on Saturday, just under a thousand people being exposed to medical care that they couldn't afford.

"This just makes me motivated to do it again," she said.

Sean Nichols, a dentist from Derry, N.H., has done it again. The Remote Area Medical event was his fourth.

"RAM has been doing this for years and years," he said. "I am glad we are having them."

Nichols said dentists spend an average of 35 to 40 minutes per patient. He said the dentists concentrate on serious problems and really didn't get into much else with the patients.

"You can only handle so much," he said. "We are doing whatever we can in that time to make their life a little better."

Remote Area Medical was founded in 1985 by Stan Brock, who perhaps is best known as the co-host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom television series, which made its debut in 1963.

On the Remote Area Medical website, it states that the organization was formed to help due to the "lack of heathcare in impoverished, underserved and isolated areas."

That wouldn't seem to be descriptive of the Manatee and Sarasota counties area, but more than 2,000 people were expected to take advantage of the clinic because they couldn't afford medical care.

"The World Health Organization ranks 190 countries on their ability to take care of their citizens," Brock said. "The United States is No. 37 on that list."

While Remote Area Medical has been working in various states around the country for 30 years, it had just one event in Florida more than 20 years ago. Brock said that only three licensed doctors volunteered to help at that event.

"We didn't come back for that reason," he said. "We tend to go where people want us."

Brock said Florida still faces substantial challenges when it comes to the type of services that his non-profit provides because doctors from other states who want to volunteer face restrictions that turns them away. He said he entire world needs to wake up and make it easier for doctors to donate their time whether state to state or internationally.

"The challenge for something like this is whether you can find enough licensed practitioners," he said. "The difference now is that Dick Conard spent the best part of the last year recruiting here."

Brock said 12 states have changed laws to make it easier to host events that get medical attention to those who can't afford it, including his home state of Tennessee.

He said a lot of work remains to be done.

"The chance that you are going to see everybody who needs medical care is not very good," he said. "Hopefully, we will see as many as possible today and the others come back tomorrow. For some, though, there isn't another tomorrow."

Davis Graham, the executive director of Manatee Diagnostic Center, which donated manpower and equipment to the event, noted the irony.

"This is awesome," he said. "We're on a medical mission trip in the wealthiest country in the world."

A Manatee County Technical dental student, Hector Reyes, worked at an "after-care" table while his mother, Veronica Reyes, waited in line for dental care. "She doesn't have dental insurance," he said. "Some people just don't have the same opportunities as others."

He was pleased that he could volunteer for what he considered a very important event.

"This makes me very happy, satisfied," he said.

Although many parents brought children, not everyone took advantage of some of the opportunities, such as child vaccinations.

"We only handled about 60 children," said Gerald Ray, a nurse with the Medical Reserve Corps. "People were afraid to bring them over because they might lose their place in line."

That being said, Ray thought it was a great first event for the area.

"We need more of this," he said. "I think it was as organized as it could be."

Behind the scenes in one of the work stations, Sarmad Eiwaz, a third-year dental student at LECOM, said the dental patients seemed to be turning over at a rapid and efficient rate. He was helping to sterilize dental instruments and he had done thousands on Saturday.

He was glad to volunteer his time.

"I was born in Iraq so I know what it is like to be poor," he said. "We are helping and we have poor people right here in America. America needs plenty of help. "