An international non-profit focused on saving sight has enlisted the aid of a telecommunications company to create its "Flying Eye Hospital," capable of bringing healthcare services to any place with an airport.
Crestron, a Rockleigh, N.J.-based developer of control and automation systems, will equip an MD-10 aircraft with a variety of telecommunications and mHealth services for ORBIS International, which works primarily in developing countries to address eye-related health concerns. The aircraft, donated by FedEx, will be equipped with an operating theater, laser treatment room, communications center, recovery room, audio-visual/IT room and a 46-seat classroom.
“Crestron’s audio/video solutions will serve as an invaluable advantage in ORBIS’ mission to continue to save sight worldwide. ORBIS is fortunate to receive their full support as we build our new training facility,” said Jack McHale, director of the MD-10 Project for New York-based ORBIS International, in a press release. “Crestron’s generous donation and state-of-the-art control and automation systems will help us continue to provide the gift of sight to people around the globe.”
Crestron's technology will be used not only by clinicians on board the plane in their medical duties, but also to enable them to collaborate in real-time with specialists all over the world and to enable lectures and discussions on-board and around the globe. In addition, surgical procedures performed on the plane can be broadcast, with two-way communication technology and remote toggling so that healthcare professionals in other locations can move the cameras around to get better views.
The "teaching facility with wings" is of special interest to Crestron's CEO, George Feldstein, an aviation enthusiast who founded the Crestron Eagles Program to donate telecommunications technology to military hospitals serving wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“ORBIS is providing quality eye care to an underserved population," Feldstein said in the release. "Our complete solution will facilitate communication and collaboration between doctors, nurses and technicians to administer care in ways that were previously unimaginable. We look forward to helping ORBIS extend the value of its training programs and transform the lives of thousands around the world.”
