Imagine a mobile medical unit that was a traveling healthcare epicenter with specialists from a wide range of healthcare fields: cardiac, pulmonary, podiatry, OB/GYN, dermatology, orthopedics, urology, gastroenterology, wound care and even nutrition and exercise.

Imagine the mobile medical unit traveling to rural churches, community health fairs, schools and libraries so nearby residents could see a doctor and receive care.

That’s H.E.L.P.’s goal. We are working with potential partners, exploring the possibilities of mobile medical units and gathering grant applications. Costs and funding sources have been identified. Doctors, nurses and medical technicians who want to volunteer their time, talent and medical knowledge are stepping forward.

The puzzle pieces for this dream are coming together. And the Georgetown County community will benefit.

The Healthcare Educational Liaison Project, Inc. (H.E.L.P.) is on Facebook and you’re invited to be our fan. What a great place to exchange ideas and keep up to date with our progress for acquiring and implementing a mobile medical unit for Georgetown County.

For the past six months H.E.L.P.’s focus has shifted away from Nigeria where we recently established a medical clinic. The clinic is operational, staffed with trained medical professionals and patients are being treated. The clinic is a blessing to the area where before there might only have been two hospital beds per 1,000 people.

With that clinic up and running and sustaining itself, H.E.L.P. has turned a compassionate eye towards an area closer to home–Georgetown County, South Carolina. It is our goal to use a mobile medical unit to see and treat patients in rural parts of the county. The working poor often do not seek the medical attention they need for reasons that include transportation challenges and the ability to afford time away from work. A mobile medical unit addresses those concerns.

Follow H.E.L.P. on Facebook, request brochures that you can share with your friends, family and church members and stay tuned to see ways you can help bring a mobile medical unit to Georgetown County, South Carolina.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Healthcare-Educational-Liaison-Project-HELP/131492847864?ref=ts

Do you want to send more information about the Healthcare Educational Liaison Project (H.E.L.P.) to someone you know? We’re spreading the word about H.E.L.P.’s efforts to acquire a mobile medical unit so that the medical needs of the working poor throughout Georgetown County may be met.

Want to tell someone about H.E.L.P.? We'll send them a brochure.

Send an email to HelpIsHere@verizon.net or call 843-237-8887 if you want a complimentary H.E.L.P. brochure mailed to you or someone you know. We’re happy to let everyone know about our efforts.

For many of the Third World countries where so few have access to basic healthcare, comprehensive healthcare is greatly needed. Nigeria averages about two hospital beds per 1,000 people, which often leads to many illnesses being left untreated. H.E.L.P. works endlessly to provide basic healthcare for many through its partnerships, leveraging its resources and local community support.

Now H.E.L.P. wants to expand its medical outreach. The board of directors intends to acquire and implement a mobile medical clinic that will serve Georgetown County, South Carolina and other rural communities.

The H.E.L.P. board has identified funding sources, possible grants and potential partnerships and wholeheartedly believes that a mobile medical unit will come to fruition for Georgetown County sooner rather than later.

Medical technicians, nurses and doctors are alreadyexpressing their interest in volunteering for the mobile medical unit–to carry their medical expertise to the rural parts of Georgetown County and better serve those families who do not receive the medical attention they need.

Support for this project is spreading. Thank you.

Many of the medical facilities in Nigeria offer acceptable medical care for routine problems, but the quality of care at the public facilities falls far below Western standards. Access to quality health care is either limited or nonexistent in Nigeria.

Currently, the training of most physicians is not comparable to that in Western countries. Equipment is often poorly maintained and essential medications and supplies are often unavailable.

In 2007, Dr. Ekuma Oji-Uzor and Dr. John Ijem discussed the health care crisis in Nigeria. They saw a need for professionals in the United States to invest their talents and help improve the quality of Nigeria’s medical care.

Thus, they implemented massive efforts to refurbish and re-equip major hospitals, starting with the teaching hospitals.

H.E.L.P. provided Ebonyi State University with more than 400 textbooks, periodicals and journals to assist the university with its medical school accreditation. In 2007, Dr. Ijem, H.E.L.P.’s founder, delivered lectures on CPR, treated local patients and provided replacement equipment, all at Federal Medical Center in Abakaliki, Nigeria.

And now H.E.L.P.’s vision is to bring medical care to people throughout Georgetown County with a mobile medical unit.

Pawleys Island Community Church sent a medical mission team to Zapote, Guatemala to provide medical and non-medical assistance for the people in this remote area.

Zapote is a town in the agricultural lowlands with a surrounding population of 3,000. Nearly everyone works in the sugar cane or coffee fields of large farms.

Guatemala is looking for more ways to give its people the tools they need to provide for their families.

H.E.L.P., Inc. made a financial contribution to assist Pawleys Island Community Church and its partners in Guatemala–the Galilea Church and Kids Alive–for their efforts to provide medical services to Zapote.

H.E.L.P. founder, Dr. Ijem from Murrells Inlet, SC, returned to Nigeria this past spring to teach, donate and operate. He visited Nigerian medical facilities, gave lectures to local physicians on interpreting EKG readings and diagnosing/treating heart failure, and he performed surgery.

Dr. Ijem’s patient was a 55-year-old woman with third degree heart blockage, which caused her to exhibit abnormal body swelling and a periodic loss of consciousness due to lack of oxygen.

Dr. Ijem preparing for pacemaker implantation.

The surgery took place at the Federal Medical Center in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. Due to sterilization concerns, the pacemaker, which was donated by Medtronic and St. Jude Corporation, was only made available at the point of insertion.

The pacemaker surgery took about two hours to perform. In the U.S., this same surgery would have been completed in 30 minutes, due to the available technology and equipment.

Not only did Dr. Ijem not have access to modern technology during this pacemaker surgery in Nigeria, he was also conscious of the possibility that an unexpected power failure could occur. Though a generator was available, power loss by the Nigerian Electricity Power Authority could have meant life or death for the pacemaker patient.

During the surgery, Dr. Ijem explained techniques, equipment and warning signs to about 15 Nigerian physicians who were there to observe.

The surgery was a success and 24 hours later the patient was released!

If H.E.L.P. can do this in Nigeria, imagine what this group can do in Georgetown County, South Carolina! Keep an eye on H.E.L.P. as this non-profit pushes forward to acquire and implement a mobile medical unit for Georgetown County’s rural population who cannot travel to the free medical clinic in Pawleys Island for medical attention.

Headlines, news reports and radio talk shows mention healthcare everyday. It’s political and it’s personal, but it doesn’t have to be something about which local, Georgetown County, SC residents do nothing. H.E.L.P. is here.

H.E.L.P. is affecting the healthcare landscape right here in Georgetown County, SC. Founded in 2007 and having already established a medical clinic in Nigeria, H.E.L.P. is a non-profit organization that intends to bring a medical mobile unit to Georgetown County. With a medical van or a clinic on wheels, H.E.L.P. can go to the working poor, the people in Georgetown County’s rural areas who cannot travel to the free medical clinic in Pawleys Island (Baskervill’s Smith Medical Clinic).

H.E.L.P. is on the way to bringing a mobile medical unit to Georgetown County. As we bring local awareness to this goal and familiarize Georgetown County residents and businesses with H.E.L.P., this blog will be a cost-effective means of spreading our important message. Please share it with your friends and offer suggestions to us as the H.E.L.P. board of directors and H.E.L.P. volunteers are comprised of your friends and neighbors who want to give Georgetown County residents the medical attention they need.