By: Bill Dunn
Member District Prosthetics Team
RC of Yarmouth
The District Prosthetics Team last visited the Dominican Republic (DR) in January 2020, just before the pandemic shut everything down. Based on that trip’s experience and the nontravel time during the pandemic, the Team has been evolving the design for prosthetic hands to address issues with the previous, manually-operated design. At the same time, the agency the team works with in the DR, Centro de Protesis, has started construction on what will be the first prosthetics clinic in that country.
The team now has a new battery-powered, modular design for its prosthetic hand (see picture) ready for use. Six copies of an interim version of the new design were sent to the DR last year for testing. With this design the team can bring the modular components on a mission and clients will be able to be fitted and walk away with their new hand on their first visit. In addition, the team is now purchasing adjustable sockets for leg prosthetics, an expansion of the assistance we can provide.