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Published: September 10th 2015
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pre-set up meeting. This trip has many ups and downs. You are so so beat from the travel and the hours...but so uplifted and excited about the results for the kids and young adults who are being given the gift of hearing. In the two prior days, because of the job task that I was doing, I did not get a chance to see much of what was happening when the fittings were happening. Today, I DID.
What is equally amazing to me as the children who can now hear, is the parents....The mom or dad who brings the child in to be tested and treated. They are so patient and good with the children. Often, they have made up their own way to communicate with hand gestures and facial expressions only they understand. The relief on their faces when the hearing aid works is so evident. They know, even if the child does not yet know, that everything at that moment has changed.....and for the better. All of our parents, I think, would want to make our lives a bit easier if they could. They know that getting the gift of hearing is doing just that.
We arrive after about a
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more on set up! 35 minute drive to the Ministry of Health Department/clinic in Salt, Jordan. This would be the equivalent to the Lucas County Health Department. When we arrived, there were already over 100 people waiting to get in. We needed to have security come up and help us with the door until we could get set up. There are five distinct sections to the process that Entheos uses to get through all the patients on these days.
1. intake and registration. Rita Mansour, who is fluent in Arabic, works with Barbara Steele to interview people as they arrive and get pertinent information. A doctor gives an initial assessment and the patient is given a number.
2. Generally speaking, the next step is a hearing test. Depending on how long ago the patient's last test was they will be retested by out team using our equipment. Sometimes, they just need to have wax cleaned out. Sometimes there is an ear infection or a perforated ear drum. In those cases, the patient is triaged by the team and may or may not move to the next step.
3. The next step is the taking of an ear mold and the making
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Some of the tools and equipment set up to make molds of the mold. A putty/wax is mixed and inserted into the ear until it hardens. When it does, it is removed and then shaved down and smoothed out using a fine point drill. This part of the process takes some time and practice. Often, these molds are sent out to be made in special labs...we did them on the spot. After the molds are shaped, a small plastic tube has to be threaded into the mold. This is the tube that will eventually be hooked to the hearing aid that goes around the back of the ear. After this is done, the mold is dipped in a clear protective coat. To dry, it takes 20 minutes.
4. The fourth step is fitting. The audiologist selects a hearing aid based on the patient. Is is programed to their hearing loss. In other words, if you have 20 hearing loss, the aid will be set to get you back to a normal range. It is then specifically set by the audiologist to fit snug on the ear. After attached, the levels are tested on the patient.
5. The fifth step is counseling. The team has a speech pathologist as well
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Nimet getting set up for her day of doing hearing testing. She is absolutely the sweetest audiologist...and person. The way she treats her patients and speaks to them is absolutely beautiful. She is from Florida and was a valued member of our awesome RED team! as several hearing impaired individuals who benefit from hearing aids. Theses folks work together to take the patient through the care and maintainence process. They talk to the parents about the importance of talking to their children ALOT now that they can hear and to look at them when they do. From what little I understand, talking alot and looking at the child when you do can increase what the child can understand and learn by up to 20%.They are also provided batteries. Did you know that hearing aid batteries need to be changed every seven days or so? This can be expensive and they could be heard to come by in some areas...especially with people who have no resources. I think one of the goals of the team is to provide up to six months worth of batteries. Otherwise, the work of providing the aids is lost if they are not powered!
So, depending on the site we visit, these departments could be in one large room, five crazy small incredibly got rooms, a hall way...or some combination. On this day at Al Salt, the mold making and coating (which I work on) and the fitting were in
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hearing aids! the same large room at one large conference table. As a result, I got to spend more time with the patients and see them through the process...and see the final result. This was a particularly great day for this as we saw almost 50 kids! You can look through some of the pictures below to see some of these amazing stories!
Al Salt was also a very long long day. So long, in fact, we all proceeded directly to dinner on the bus in our work clothes. We joined the other team, who worked in a whole other part of Jordan for the day, at a fabulous Middle Eastern Restaurant. Im pretty sure we were all asleep on the bus ride home. We had another long day ahead of us...
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