2008-04-16 19:54:41 - SANTA ROSA DE COPAN, HONDURAS--Allen Dicks, RRT and Systems Specialist in the Clinical Engineering Department of Aultman Hospital, traveled in February to Honduras

where he volunteers as Senior Biomedical Technician with Central American Medical Outreach, Inc. (CAMO) in the Santa Rosa de Copan public health hospital and clinic.
'If I don't show up for work here, my boss may get upset, but life goes on. If I don't show up for work in Honduras, patients without proper monitoring or working ventilators may

die,' said Dicks.
'I now have friends and 'family' there. It's not like I'm helping strangers. Imagine how I would feel if someone died because I didn't 'feel' like going down there?'
'I have been to Honduras more times than I can keep track of,' said Allen who has traveled with CAMO since 1994 once a year for the first few years, twice a year starting in 1999, and three times a years for the last three years.
'Why do I go? The opportunity is there. There's no reason not to go. God doesn't just open doors. He puts a strong wind at your back to push you through.'
'We fix whatever we're handed that doesn't work,' said Allen.
Co-worker, Beryl Snyder repaired five ultrasounds. Bob and John Gallagher were able to get the mammography machine operating and two x-ray units in the public health clinic which did not have a single unit functioning for 600,000 people.
Allen has two associates and a bachelors degree and is a registered respiratory therapist who directs and coordinates fellow CAMO biomedical technicians. The team repaired adult and infant ventilators, ECG monitors, EKG machines, fetal monitors, pulse oximeters, incubators, suction machines, nebulizers and performed preventive maintenance on the medical air compressor system that was installed last October.
Since 1993, CAMO has renovated the Hospital de Occidente, public health and community buildings and continually expanded to now offer 17 healthcare programs in Santa Rosa de Copan. CAMO, a humanitarian aid organization based in Orrville, OH, cares for more than 143,000 medical needs with an average of $2 million in donated medical supplies, equipment and expertise annually. CAMO, a 501(c) 3 non-profit, multiplies every $1 donated into $4.
To learn more about the caring work of CAMO, visit: www.CAMO.org