MEDIA ADVISORY
June 22, 2010
       
 
Cristin Taylor to Volunteer with Physicians for Peace 
 
 
WHO: Cristin E. Taylor, P.T., D.P.T. and A.T.C. with Physicians for Peace and the Haitian
Amputee Coalition
 
WHAT: To provide physical therapy services to the people of Haiti who are in need of
rehabilitative help following the January 2010 earthquake
 
WHERE: The Haitian Amputee Coalition, a long-term prosthetic and rehabilitation center at the
Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in Deschapelles, Haiti
 
 WHEN: Dr. Cristin Taylor is departing Baltimore Monday, June 28; Returning Saturday, July 17
 
WHY:  Cristin Taylor loves to use her skills as a physical therapist and athletic trainer to work with
amputee victims and help them regain independence in their daily activities and sports. In
her two years working at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, she has done just that as an
amputee rehabilitation specialist. So when she heard the reports about the growing number
of amputees in Haiti as a result of the devastating January earthquake, she knew her
training would be needed there. 
 
Cristin leaves on Monday June 28 for a three week Physicians for Peace volunteer mission
to work at the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in Deschapelles, Haiti, where Physicians
for Peace has teamed with Hanger Orthopedics and several others to build an Amputee
Clinic. The clinic has served over 400 amputees since it opened its doors in March.
 
 To prepare for her mission, Cristin has been corresponding with other Physicians for Peace
physical therapists who have already been to HAS. She has also checked in with the
hospital and amputee clinic directly to see what supplies she can bring with her. Cristin is
even better prepared than most because she already traveled to Haiti in February as a
volunteer with The University of Miami’s Project Medishare. At that time, she worked in a
250 bed tent hospital set up on the Port-au-Prince airfield. She left after seven days
knowing that there was so much work to be done, and resolving to come back and help
again. Since then, she has spoken in her local community about the need in Haiti and done
what she could to remain involved.
- more -
 
 When Cristin heard that George Washington University was hosting a Haiti Day event on
April 12 to talk about the long term recovery needs of Haiti, she was determined to attend.
Physicians for Peace President and CEO Ron Sconyers was a panelist at the event speaking
about the long term needs of the disabled in Haiti, and the two struck up a conversation that
led to Cristin’s upcoming departure for Haiti. Cristin knows that the days in Haiti are going
to be long and the three weeks will leave her physically and emotionally drained. But she is
up to the challenge and wants to do everything she can to help.    
 
Since 2005, internationally recognized Physicians for Peace (PFP) has been providing
amputee rehabilitation services in Haiti.  The number of injured and disabled in Haiti has
risen dramatically because of the earthquake. At the same time, much of the resources that
had been established to treat the disabled in Haiti have been destroyed.   
 
Physicians for Peace is a charter member of the new Haitian Amputee Coalition which
was launched post-earthquake by Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc. (Hanger) and its
philanthropic organization The Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation in partnership with
Physicians for Peace, Shepherd Spinal Center, and the Harold & Kayrita Anderson
Family Foundation and the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS). The Haitian Amputee
Coalition is a long-term prosthetic and rehabilitation center on-site at HAS, an
undamaged local hospital with a high clinical reputation located 60 miles from Port-au-
Prince in Deschapelles, Haiti.
 
The Coalition is staffed by volunteer U.S. prosthetic experts from Physicians for Peace
and Hanger Orthopedic Group and in conjunction with local Haitian medical
professionals.
 
Physicians for Peace is providing donated medical supplies, teams of physical therapists
to deliver direct client care and training, expertise and is using protocols from its Walking
Free program.
 
CONTACT: Monika Bridgforth
  Senior Director of Development and Communications, Physicians for Peace
  757.625.7569 x316  /  mbridgforth@physiciansforpeace.org