Mending Faces and DRE, Partners Helping to Change the Lives of Children in Need of Life Changing Surgeries

The Opportunity

Dr. Mimi Wong originally contacted Amanda Cannady to purchase a lightweight portable anesthesia machine. Onsite hospitals and clinics had limited access to working equipment. A need for medical equipment that was portable, reliable, and could handle large amounts of cases in a short period of time was necessary.

Mending Faces, on average, will perform over 70-80 surgical procedures to repair cleft palates and or lips in a four-day period. On average, patients range in age from under one years old to 17 years old. All equipment must be able to be set up and taken down for transport in a very timely manner and must work under long days of use.

A challenge Mending Faces experienced when sourcing medical equipment was finding durable, portable medical equipment that could be used in remote environments and handle extensive use and travel.

Our Solution

In 2010, Dr. Mimi Wong first contacted DRE on behalf of Mending Faces. Dr. Wong was sourcing medical equipment for an upcoming trip for the Philippines and required a portable anesthesia machine that could accommodate the challenging conditions of the upcoming medical mission trip. With over 20 years of experience in medical missions, Dr. Wong maintains the top priority and specific focus is patient safety and this is dependent upon the caliber of equipment the team will use.

Dr. Wong along with other Mending Faces team members were very satisfied with the performance and ease of use of the DRE Transport anesthesia machine. The original budget allowed for one anesthesia machine and over time their inventory has grown to safely run 5 operating tables not only in the Philippines but also in Colombia. Mending Faces added a pulse oximeter, electro-surgical unit, and patient monitors to their purchase.