Physicians for Peace and ReSurge International Partner on Burn Care Mission

NORFOLK, VA (05/04/2011)(readMedia)-- Collaboration and cooperation were the keywords behind a burn care conference and workshop in Nicaragua last week, where volunteer medical educators from Physicians for Peace and ReSurge International, two U.S.-based international nonprofits, assessed skill levels and provided training to more than 40 healthcare professionals from five Central American countries.

"Our goal in working with ReSurge International was to combine resources and reduce duplication in services," said Brig. Gen. Ron Sconyers (USAF, Ret.), president and CEO of Physicians for Peace. "By partnering together, our volunteers could work more efficiently with our in-country partners to improve access and care for patients in Central America. It was a win-win proposition. And a proposition that we hope others will follow."

This is the first joint mission between Physicians for Peace and ReSurge International, two organizations that have long histories of working to improve burn care in Latin America. The team in Nicaragua included two volunteers from Physicians for Peace – Gretchen Carrougher, RN, MN, of Gig Harbor, Wash., and Lisa Arceneaux Psy.D., of New Orleans – and two volunteers from ReSurge International – Beth Costa, OT, OTR, at the University of Washington Burn Center in Seattle, and Dr. Cristina Serra, a pediatric intensivist, from Brazil.

"More than 6 million people in developing countries are severely burned each year, but few in poor countries have the access to the care they need and therefore suffer from disabling and devastating injuries," said Susan W. Hayes, president and CEO of ReSurge International. "This visiting educator workshop, in partnership with Physicians for Peace, is a linchpin in our efforts to build surgical capacity and increase access to burn care for those who need it most."

Burns are among the most common pediatric injuries in developing countries, according to the World Health Organization; within Central America and the Caribbean, 70 percent of burn victims are children. By training nurses, therapists, surgeons and psychologists, both Physicians for Peace and ReSurge International support clinics and hospitals in their efforts to provide holistic burn care.

In Nicaragua last week, volunteers worked closely with APROQUEN, a well-known pediatric burn care foundation that maintains a burn care unit in Managua, Nicaragua. While both Physicians for Peace and ReSurge International have strong individual ties to APROQUEN, the joint mission allowed the foundation to reach out to even more burn unit staff members throughout Nicaragua and Central America. By week's end, volunteers had provided education and training on pediatric intensive care, occupational and physical therapy, psychology and nursing to healthcare professionals from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

For more information on Physicians for Peace, visit www.physiciansforpeace.org. For more information on ReSurge International, visit www.resurge.org.

ABOUT PHYSICIANS FOR PEACE

Physicians for Peace is an international non-profit organization that mobilizes volunteer healthcare professionals to assist developing nations with unmet medical needs and scarce resources. Through effective, hands-on medical education and training, clinical care and donated medical supplies, Physicians for Peace develops long-term, sustainable, replicable, and evidence-based programs to help partner nations build medical capability and capacity to help themselves. Since 1989, volunteers for the organization have conducted medical missions in more than 60 countries. With its headquarters in Norfolk, Va., Physicians for Peace has offices in the Philippines and the Dominican Republic.

ABOUT RESURGE INTERNATIONAL

For 42 years, ReSurge International (formerly Interplast) has worked diligently to restore function and hope, and reduce physical limitations for burn survivors through reconstructive surgery. ReSurge provides free comprehensive reconstructive surgery for the world's poor and builds year-round surgical access in underserved areas through education, training and support. It renews the health of nearly 4,000 people with disabling burns, clefts and hand injuries each year -so they can go to school, provide for their families, and have a second chance for a normal, productive life.