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ORBIS International DC-10 (Flying Eye Hospital)

1994 MODERN AIRCRAFT

History

ORBIS International is a non-profit organization aimed at fighting blindness in third world countries. Philanthropists purchased a Douglas DC-10-10 in 1992 and donated it to the organization to support people around the world - the ORBIS DC-10 is the oldest DC-10 still flying (2013 ). The primary purpose of ORBIS is to provide ophthalmology services to its patients, and the success of the organization relies on 500 volunteer faculty members worldwide who provide clinical and technical expertise to many at local hospitals as well as in flying eye hospitals. Vision preservation program.

To date (2013), the ORBIS DC-10 has served as an airliner and eye clinic for over 40 years and is scheduled to be used in the coming years by a McDonnell Douglas MD-10-30F (later DC-FedEx donated 10 variants) She is able to continue her valuable vision protection mission around the world.

In order to modernize, the aircraft underwent a two-year refit program that removed most of the passenger seats to accommodate the new training and active-duty hospitals. The first-class area was transformed into a 48-seat theater, allowing local doctors to view actual procedures in real-time on the operating table. Behind the operating room is a state-of-the-art operating room, and behind the operating room is a three-bed recovery room. All told, the overhaul cost about $15 million. As a 601(c)(3) nonprofit, ORBIS International's support includes FedEx and United Airlines crews volunteering time to fly and maintain "eye hospitals" from one airport to anotheressentially in Ability to reach anywhere in the world with acceptable outliers.

ORBIS staff make approximately eight trips a year, and each mission requires weeks of planning by all involved (doctors, staff and crew). Due to the true age of the DC-10 used, this aircraft requires a lot of inspection time and a high level of maintenance.

ORBIS serves some of the most underserved regions in the world in two ways: DC-10 is in the hands of its mechanics, and onboard doctors and staff interview potential patients and train local doctors in the host country. Medical staff will work with local ophthalmologists Clinic meets and demos familiarize staff with current ophthalmic technology.

Over the past 20 years, ORBIS has conducted programs in 77 different countries, treating more than 15 million people with visual impairments. In these programs, more than 200,000 ophthalmologists worldwide have been introduced to modern equipment and procedures.

One of the missions is outreach, a broad-based development program comprising local doctors, hospitals, clinics, eye banks and government/non-government health organizations. The ORBIS team currently has about 100 active partners who have been working together for about three years. All projects are geared towards long-term activities and will continue even after ORBIS support ends.

Donors around the world provide expertise and resources to partners in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Nepal, Vietnam, South Africa, Zambia and more.