In December of 1997, my wife Barb and I took Plattner Orthopedic Company to a new area of the world. Memorial Christian Hospital located in Malumghat, Bangladesh, was in need for some advanced equipment to enhance its orthotic and prosthetic department.

"Where is Bangladesh?" you ask. So did we. The country is nestled on the east side of the Indian Ocean on the Bay of Bengal, between India and Burma. It is known for horrific floods and cyclones that occur annually, devastating the country and claiming the lives of literally tens of thousands of people. Malumghat is located about sixty miles south of Chittigong, Bangladesh. Chittigong is the third largest city in the country of Bangladesh.

The opportunity to serve was presented by a mutual friend, a missionary who was working at Memorial Christian Hospital to design a new electrical system. He became acquainted with the director of the Limb Center and informed him that he knew just the right couple who might come and assist with the Center’s needs. Along with technical help, the unit could also benefit from a plastic, vacuum forming system.

In early September, 1997, the system was designed based upon the existing system that Plattner Orthopedic uses in its Peoria, Illinois lab. Each piece was labeled, numbered and carefully packed for the long journey by ship and rickshaw to the hospital.

All of the equipment was delivered to Bangladesh, intact! When we arrived, the large capacity air tank and vacuum pump, the galvanized piping, and all of the valves and connectors, were reassembled according to matching numbers, like a jigsaw puzzle. The task was to reassemble the equipment, knowing there were no Sears or Grainger stores just down the street.

The Bengali people are very resourceful and hard working. Within a day, the pipes and pump were assembled and placed in the Limb Center. A special table was built by the woodworking crew; the electrical and compressed air were hooked up, and the system was tested. All that was needed was a patient to bring this new technology to life.

A family brought in an eight-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. I evaluated and casted him for bilateral ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) to help him to walk. With many onlookers, the impressions were poured, modified, and vacuum-formed for the first time, with the most favorable results ever seen at the Limb Center.

Two years have since passed and correspondence from the Limb Center indicates that the vacuum-forming system works beautifully. Ram Kanu Dey, head technician, reports that the staff are now able to fabricate orthotic and prosthetic devices for the people of Bangladesh with the same quality and consistency that we enjoy here in the United States.