<img style="float: right;" src="https://opedge.com/Content/OldArticles/images/2005-11_10/Per_1.jpg" hspace="4" vspace="4" /> Like most folks I was amazed by the outpouring of help for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I'm not talking about government agencies--I mean people, helping people. No one was prepared for a storm the size of Katrina hitting where it did. In the aftermath, folks that weren't busy pointing fingers, or waiting for someone to ask them for help, jumped in and found a way to help. The O&P community also did itself proud in the days and weeks following the disaster. The day after New Orleans flooded and the devastation of the whole area was revealed, the OANDP-L listserve had a flood of its own. Offers of every type of assistance poured in from everywhere. Practitioners offering to help fellow practitioners, guys that might ordinarily be as competitive as football fans on opposite sides of the field, opened their hearts, homes, and wallets to help. They offered places to stay, places to practice, places for practitioners to do their billing and rebuild their lives. Assistance came from as close as next door and as far away as the Middle East. A mental health counselor from halfway around the world who couldn't offer on-site assistance offered counseling for victims and families via the Internet. A well-known O&P supplier put his business aside for ten days so he could head up a team that rescued animals left stranded by Katrina. Suppliers donated products and supplies needed to build new limbs and repair old ones damaged in the storm. Maybe most amazing of all, even the Medicare auditors agreed to give the affected region some relief. <h4>O&P: It's What We Do</h4> I guess it's just the nature of what we do--helping people get their lives and their livelihoods back that made helping each other so easy. We improvise, create, and hammer out solutions to complicated problems every day. So when someone comes along that needs help, but can't pay, we just see it as another problem to solve. <h4>Heroes and Help</h4> We have many "not-for-profit" organizations such as the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA), Barr Foundation, and the O&P Assistance Fund (OPAF) that work hand-in-hand with practitioners to improve the lives of amputees. Our trade publications are always running stories about practitioners going out of their way, and oftentimes, out of the country, to help folks when they need a leg or a brace. Many of the large companies in O&P support these organizations and feel a sense of obligation to give back to the industry that provides for them. Still, the real heroes are the guys and gals that come in early, stay late, give up weekends and vacations, not to mention profit, to take care of the patients that cannot move forward in life without the legs and braces they make. I know I've said it before, but O&P is more than just a job for the most of us; it's an opportunity to use our talents to make a real difference in peoples' lives. Everyone can do something to help folks in need; just look around and find a place to jump in and help. Some people give their time; others, their money; and some blessed few can give both. Working together, we make our little corner of the world a better place, and when all is said and done, isn't that really what it's all about, anyway? I guess seeing all that generosity and cooperation must be what's got me feeling a little less....EDGY
