Prosthetic Hands

Bill Dunn, a member of the Yarmouth Rotary Club and an immediate past Assistant District Governor, will share with us the good work being done in the development and outfitting of prosthetic hands.  He will share the successes district Rotarians have had, primarily in the Dominican Republic.

Bill has been a member of the Yarmouth Club for 23 years, was treasurer for a number of years, President twice, Assistant Governor for three years and the District’s Rotaplast Ambassador for about 5 years. He spoke to the club a number of years ago on behalf of Rotaplast.

Bill has made 10 International Rotary trips: 5 Rotaplast (2 Venezuela, 2 Peru and 1 Philippines), 1 Safe Passage to Guatemala, 1 to Cuba installing water filer systems and 3 prosthetics (2 Dominican Republic and 1 Kosovo).

The District Prosthetics Team met at the end of July and, as suggested in the June district newsletter (https://rotary7780.org/stories/district-prosthetics-team-achieves-major-milestone-with-hands/), is targeting a new trip to the Dominican Republic, probably in January 2023 (3 years after its last trip).  It is planning to bring down the modular pieces for 40-50 hands, which we will be able to custom fit to patients such that they walk away with an electric-powered hand in a couple of hours.  Quite an improvement from the old days of taking measurements on one trip, bringing the measurements back to the US for manufacture, and then supplying the hand on the next trip.