UPDATE: Dankmeyer and Legs4Africa

This year, to prepare for a Day of Service sponsored by our clinical partners in the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), we decided to participate in APTA’s drive for donations to Legs4Africa. Many countries in Africa have underserved communities who need affordable rehabilitation. You can read about our preparations for our donations in last month’s article.

Jesse Yingling (pictured above) was ready and waiting for a UPS pickup with a number of packages containing the components that had been carefully examined, cleaned and sorted for donations. Legs4Africa provided special shipping labels for the October pickup. Jesse weighed in the nine boxes at a total of 259 pounds.

We received a thank you from Tom Williams at Legs4Africa:

This is just a quick message to say a huge thank you for your recent donation. The components you’ve sent are being processed and will be stacked on our shelves until the next shipment to our partners in sub-Saharan Africa.

This was a labor of love, and we look forward to hearing from Legs4Africa any stories they are able to share about recipients. Participation in our local communities as well as the world wide community of those with limb loss or limb difference is an important part of our mission.

Dankmeyer and a Day of Service: Legs4Africa

Over the last several years, we have collected a number of prosthetic components which have been used as demonstration devices, teaching tools, or are from outgrown devices. Some may have been donated by family members or are samples from vendors. We have been holding on to these since the early days of COVID, because at the time, no one knew if it was safe to donate them.

This year, to prepare for a Day of Service sponsored by our clinical partners in the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), we determined to participate in APTA’s drive for donations to Legs4Africa. Many countries in Africa have underserved communities who need affordable rehabilitation.

Their website states, “We recycle prosthetic legs that would otherwise end up in landfill and facilitate support groups so amputees in sub-Saharan Africa can live more independent, fulfilled lives.”

A team of Dankmeyer volunteers examined all the stored components for safety, and then cleaned and organized the parts into groups for packaging. On October 8, 2022, they will be delivered to a drop-off site where collections will be assembled for shipment to Legs4Africa.

Participation in our local communities as well as the world wide community of those with limb loss or limb difference is an important part of our mission. Take a look at the items going to the Day of Service.

Teaching Physical Therapy Students

Something we look forward to every summer is the teaching we do with the University of Maryland Physical Therapy students. Usually, we start the week off by inviting the class to our Baltimore Washington office, where they attend lectures in our conference room, visit with patients who come to demonstrate their prostheses and orthoses in action, and visit our fabrication lab to see fabrication techniques and materials. This program had been held virtually due to COVID and we were looking forward to welcoming the students back to our facility this year!

The day before we were to host this amazing group, we lost our power. It was such a disappointment to all to have to cancel the session in our office. Tuesday, teaching resumed at the University for the rest of the week, where Mark Hopkins, PT, CPO, MBA and Angie Bryl, CPO, MBA were joined by other Dankmeyer staff Rochelle Dumm, CPO, Cole Branche, Resident Prosthetist Orthotist, and Jamie Dean, Patient Services Coordinator. A number of patient volunteers came to give these students a close look at their physical therapy and rehabilitative needs.

We are grateful to be able to participate in the education of these students, as they will work with us and other practitioners over the course of their careers serving those who wear orthoses, and those in the limb loss and limb difference community.

CPR Training - We Do Heart Work

Dankmeyer staff members are required to have several kinds of training to meet our American Board of Certification (ABC) accreditation requirements. CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) training is not required by ABC, but it is a skill that we think is a valuable skill to have - both to provide emergency care to our patients and staff, and be an emergency resource out in the community.

The Mayo Clinic website page says “Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a lifesaving technique that's useful in many emergencies, such as a heart attack or near drowning, in which someone's breathing or heartbeat has stopped.” (For more information, click here.)

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were not able to provide this training to our staff as we have in the past. This year we were happy to arrange training through Bayside CPR & AED Training Center (an American Heart Association training center.) Our instructor, Steven Yetton, brought his training materials from their Annapolis office, which include a powerpoint and the adult and infant dummies that are used for hands-on practice.

Using our Baltimore Washington office conference room as the CPR education center, staff members got a bit of a workout when practicing techniques on the dummies arranged on the floor! Training was provided to administer CPR to both adults and infants. At the end of the session, staff members were able take the required written test in order to get their official certification and CPR cards.

Education and service to our communities are two important pillars of our mission. Steve and the folks at Bayside helped us to accomplish our CPR training goals to further that mission.

Marlies On The Hill at the AOPA Policy Forum

Dankmeyer’s very own Marlies Beerli Cabell, CPO recently attended the 2022 AOPA Policy Forum on The Hill. (The Hill refers to the hill in Washington D.C. where the Capital Building sits and Congress meets.) This is an annual event sponsored by the American Orthotics and Prosthetics Association (AOPA) which allows for the opportunity to learn about the latest legislative and regulatory issues and how they will affect the field of Prosthetics and Orthotics and the care for our patients.

People from all parts of the country attend - including clinicians, manufacturers, educators, patients and family members to educate and advocate! Marlies met in Zoom meetings with the staffers for Senator Cardin, Senator Van Hollen and Representative Raskin. She shared her clinical patient success stories to reveal custom designs with patient focused care in the difficulties of the COVID shutdown environment. She invited these Maryland members of Congress to visit Dankmeyer so they could clearly see what we do every day to meet the needs of our patients. Making a difference one day at a time!!

Marlies is actively engaged in our Advocacy efforts. If you would like to learn more about Advocacy, you can visit our Advocacy page by clicking here.