National Orthotic and Prosthetic Workshop helping to restore mobility

Jun 25, 2017 News

---

Although an accident could cost you a leg or some other limb, this does not mean that you will forever be immobile. This is thanks to the operation of the National Orthotic and Prosthetic Appliance Workshop of the

Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre.
Although the Centre came into existence some 50 years ago, to cater those who were inflicted with the crippling effects of poliomyelitis, it was later expanded into a full-fledged workshop that helps to restore the mobility of the immobile. But not only accident victims are catered to, since those with physical deformities can also help to have such issues corrected at the workshop.
According to Senior Prosthetic Technician at the Workshop, Mr. Colin Charles, just about anyone who requires a limb is catered to at the 131-132 Carmichael Street, Georgetown facility. “What we do here, we manufacture and fit both orthotics and prosthetics for persons who require those types of appliances…we do this right here,” explained Charles during an interview with this publication.
Orthotics, also referred to as orthoses, are devices that are worn to correct foot and ankle problems without surgery. These can include foot pads, shoe inserts, ankle braces, among others.
Prosthetic limbs or prosthesis are especially important to amputees [that is persons who would have had their limbs surgically removed or otherwise removed]. A prosthesis is designed for functional or cosmetic reasons, or both, but typically replaces hip, knee, elbow, ankle and even finger joints.
But according to, Charles, the national workshop caters mainly to the lower limbs. And he made it clear that “we don’t have any age limit. We cater to the general population once persons lose their leg or require the line of service that we provide.”
And the service that is provided, he explained, can cater to a growing child.
“If a child started fitting with a prosthesis at the age of three, as the child grows we cater for lengthening and adjusting of the prosthesis,” said Charles.
Added to this, he said that elder persons who may have had an accident can also benefit from the versatile service delivered. But applying a prosthesis, he related, is not possible without the client first being exposed to a period of rehabilitation.
“What we do, we start them with the rehabilitation. We send those in need of the prosthesis to therapy, and based on the assessment and how the person improves, if that person is fully ready to use it, they can be fitted with the needed prosthesis,” Charles noted.
He added, “Once we find that they are ready, we bring them in here and we do all of our measurements and we proceed to make our prosthesis. Once this starts, this means they would have completed therapy and would have undergone training and exercise successfully.”
Charles has been an integral part of the workshop for 20 years. But according to him, the workshop was in operation long before that, catering to a set of individuals who were resident at the facility, and were crippled by poliomyelitis.
But by 1994, the Rehab Centre started to expand to service clients nationally.
“Persons losing their leg can come here…they can read about us in the media or hear about us on the television and come in to us, and we can advise them how to go about getting a prosthesis,” Charles informed. Additionally, he said that persons are referred by their doctor, who can send them with a recommendation.
Currently the workshop is managed by Charles, who is supported by two other technicians, three apprentices and a workshop assistant. He explained that the production rate of both orthotics and prostheses amount to about 15 per months, depending on the demand.
“If the demand is great, sometimes we may not have materials in stock and we may have to reorder in order to meet our demand, but most times we are able to meet our demand,” Charles related.
Since the Board-operated Centre receives an annual subvention from Government, Rehabilitation Officer in charge of the daily operation of the Centre, Ms. Cynthia Massay, disclosed that those accessing the services are expected to pay a user charge. But according to Massay, “it is not the true economic cost, because all they pay for is the replacement materials; they don’t pay for labour, overheads or anything else.”
However, Massay informed that “we don’t deny any person an appliance because they can’t afford it, because we have a number of safety nets.”
Among its supporters are the Ministry of Social Protection and the Ministry of Public Health and a few other organisations. Currently the Centre has been working closely with the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Church to facilitate a project which will see the church, based on the Centre’s recommendation, paying for the appliance for an individual in need.

---

---