 during a session training local Physiotherapist on the use of a PPAM Aid (Pneumatic Post Amputation Mobility Aid)</p>
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Amy Souster, Physiotherapist (centre) during a session training local Physiotherapist on the use of a PPAM Aid (Pneumatic Post Amputation Mobility Aid)
The centre noted that this year’s training is the Centre’s third major collaboration with ProsthetiKa, and was facilitated by a team consisting of the group’s founder and director Jon Batzdorff, who is a Certified Prosthetist/Orthotist (CPO); Estrada Fuentes, CPO; Physiotherapist Amy Souster, and Occupational Therapist Angela Gree,.
It was noted that Batzdorff previously coordinated a “Lower Limb Prosthesis” workshop in 2018 and “Lower Limb and Spinal Orthosis” in 2019. These programmes both received funding from PAHO/WHO Guyana and enabled 25 persons to be fitted with prostheses, and 18 persons to receive spinal and lower limb orthoses (bracing), respectively.
The centre’s Rehabilitation Officer Dr. Mellisa Corlette-Sengwe and Supervisor of the Appliance Workshop Kingsley Isiguzo expressed their elation at the Centre now being able to fabricate better prostheses for persons with upper extremity amputations, which it was previously limited in doing.
This training, the release noted, has significantly enhanced the skillset of the centre’s orthotic & prosthetic staff, and enables a much-needed extension in service provision.
The centre also made history by becoming the first organisation in Guyana to acquire a Pneumatic Post Amputation Mobility (PPAM) Aid, making Guyana in turn one of only two countries in South America to be equipped with one.
It was explained that PPAM Aid is a device used in the rehabilitation of patients with lower limb amputations and helps to assess a patient’s ability to use an artificial limb, help the wound to heal and prepare patients to walk with an artificial limb.
Benefits of a PPAM Aid also include reducing swelling, improving balance, preparing the limb for a prosthesis, decreasing pain and decreasing phantom sensation, amongst others. Local Physiotherapists were trained by Ms. Amy Souster on the use of the device.
These achievements also come just a few days following the Centre’s 55th Anniversary. The Ptolemy Reid Centre was established on January 19, 1967 and offers a comprehensive range of rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities.
