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VIGNETTES A World of Diference GLOBAL FLIGHT RELIEF WORKS IN EARNEST TO MAKE MEDICAL TREATMENT AVAILABLE TO SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST NEGLECTED POPULATIONS Heidi Coryell Williams F FROM TIP TO TAIL the Lockheed L-1011 jumbo jet is 177 feet long and has a wingspan the width of a football feld. It remains one of the largest airplanes the world has ever seen, and for nearly seven years, this modifed plane—built to military standards and equipped with stateof-the-art medical technology—few missions all over the globe. It landed in some of the world's most remote spots so that medical personnel could provide care to thousands of men, women, and children: eye surgeries, repair of cleft palates, orthopedic operations, facial deformity corrections, and more. Now, thanks to Global Flight Relief, work is under way to return this "Flying Medical Facility" to the air to provide medical care to those who so desperately need it. 20 Tempus-Magazine.com . Summer 2013 "The only thing we need to make this a hospital is a runway and a water source," explains Bob Lake, a longtime pilot and humanitarian, and now executive director of Global Flight Relief. "Everything else is contained inside this airplane. That's the beauty of it—it's like a fying Swiss Army knife. You pull the blades out, and it can do almost anything." The plane contains its own water purifying system and its own power source. A modifed jet engine and diesel generator kept in the plane's cargo area power the hospital's entire operation while on the ground. An eight-hour setup allows the medical facility to operate almost indefnitely, Lake says. At the back of the plane is the heart of the medical operation, encompassing a major surgery area, four operating Global Flight Relief funds the Flying Medical Facility, which travels to the world's most remote spots and provides treatment and care to those who need it. (LEFT) tables, including places for doctors to scrub in, and a pre- and post-operating area. A recovery room with sixteen beds is forward of the operating area, and just like a fxed hospital, it offers private patient beds and oxygen and electrical ports, and each bed is monitored by a nurses' station that constantly follows the care of each patient. Moving forward in the plane, there is a surgical room for ear, nose and throat operations, as well as a place for prenatal care. And at the jet's front are sixtyseven business-class seats facing a large projection screen called the "learning area." Surgeries being conducted in the back can be simulcast on the screen, allowing local physicians and families to see surgeries as they are being conducted. As Global Flight Relief now prepares to return the plane to the air, dozens of medical organizations are being approached domestically and abroad to partner with and support the Flying Medical Facility's mission. In the future, Global Flight Relief hopes to acquire additional smaller jets to be used as response planes for specifc catastrophes domestically, like hurricanes and fooding, explains Terry Flynn, vice president of fund-raising for the organization. "We have an incredible opportunity before us," Lake says. "It's an amazing piece of equipment, and this is our tenmillion-dollar challenge, to get this plane back in the air. There's a lot going on, and we're just getting started." PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF GLOBAL FLIGHT RELIEF BY