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Winlink Assists in providing Medical Relief Services in Remote Areas of Honduras.The International Health
Services (IHS) of Minnesota, with communications support provided by Winlink
PMBOs, reported on a recent humanitarian mission to Honduras. The areas are
without reliable and accessible public communication facilities. The relief work
would have been much more difficult without the support of the 18 amateur radio
operators and the Winlink PMBOs taking part in the relief operation. IHS is now
planning a follow up mission and has asked Winlink again for communication
support. IHS reports: “One hundred and eight
volunteers completed a two-week Medical Relief Project in Honduras. Volunteers
consisted of 91 people from 17 states in the US, 1 person from Canada and 16
people from 4 different locations in Honduras. In addition to these were the
local people at each of the villages that assisted the teams in crowd control,
general help (carrying water, bagging vitamins, etc) and translation. These volunteers were
part of 2 surgical teams, 6 medical/dental teams, 1 dental team, 1 computer
team, 1 logistical team and 1 administrative team in nearly a dozen locations.
About half of the volunteers were working in remote villages in La Moskitia, one
of the very poorest and hardest to reach area in eastern Honduras. During ten
days, the teams worked long days and saw more than 12,000 patients and performed
over 50,000 patient contacts. This is the total of all surgeries, medical
procedures, dental extractions, fillings, eyeglasses, vitamins, and
prescriptions provided to the Honduran people. IHS provides services to the
people of Honduras at no charge.” One grateful participant
reports: “My own example is one
of several important uses of the WinLink system to get information to and from
remote areas of Honduras. After about 5 days into our 2-week mission, we were in
our local village when my wife received an e-mail message that her father was in
the hospital. She was able to get to a location to make a telephone connection
back in the U.S. That first e-mail message was so important to us! My wife
immediately returned home to be with her father and mother. During the remainder
of my time in the village, she e-mailed me several times on the status of her
father’s health. This example alone proves the value of the WinLink system in
getting messages to where they are vitally needed.” Winlink is assisting in
mobilizing its resources in preparation for the follow up mission. It
recommended a number of PMBOs best suited to the particular needs, including: “ZF1GC
in Grand Cayman Island, KN6KB and N0IA in Florida, K4CJX in Nashville, TN, and
WB0TAX in Louisiana. There are
more, of course, but those are probably the most reliable for communications
from and to Honduras.” In respect of communication
protocol it added: “… please make certain that your station(s) are up to
date with "Pactor II" and if possible, the Pactor III protocol. A
quick example of our recommendation is the difference between the Pactor I
protocol of 100 to 200 bits per second as compared to the Pactor III protocol of
from 1400 to 3600 bits per second. This translates to a much, much better system
for your email communications using much less on-the-air time. We welcome IHS
and are happy in participating in your humanitarian mission. Winlink Development
Team.” John Kirckof (KB0UUP),
the IHS Communications Director, concludes: “This letter serves
as a thanks from the HIS Board of Directors, the many volunteers, but
especially, from the needy Hondurans we serve. Also, a heartfelt thank you from
myself and my wife for the support offered.”
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