At 1:40 a.m., while most people in Blount County were asleep comfortably in their beds, Brenda Moore and hundreds of others were lined up in front of Heritage Middle School, just hoping their pre-dawn arrival had been early enough.
Remote Area Medical (RAM) -- an organization that provides free medical services for un- and under-insured individuals through volunteer doctors, nurses and other medical professionals from all over the country -- held a free clinic in Blount County Saturday and today. The group offered free medical, vision and dental services for people who could not afford them otherwise.
But the doors did not open until 6 a.m. -- hours after Moore arrived.
At about 3 p.m. -- more than 14 hours after she got to the school -- Moore was still waiting to see a dentist about her troublesome wisdom teeth. But the wait was worth it, she said, because otherwise there was no way she could afford the work she needed done.
"I think (the RAM clinic) is wonderful," she said. "So many of us just cannot afford to take off of work to go to a dentist."
Getting to Heritage Middle School as early as she did, Moore was still not the first person in line.
"Guess what my number was," she said. "134. At 1:40 in the morning."
People from as far away as Kentucky -- and some even farther than that -- made their way to the clinic Saturday. The sheer number of people in need of medical care was a shock for Moore, and it speaks to a larger problem, she said.
That problem: People need help.
"That should be the eye-opener right there," Moore said.
Within three hours of opening, the number of people seeking help overwhelmed the clinic, and staff had to stop accepting new patients. People turned away Saturday were told to come back today. Bill Hogan, president-elect of the Alcoa Kiwanis Club, said 499 people came through the doors Saturday. An additional 300 people, at least, are expected today.
"You obviously see what the need is," he said. "There's a fantastic need.
"And I think that's unrealized."
The clinic was organized by the three Blount County Kiwanis Clubs -- Alcoa, Maryville and Foothills.
Ed Kelly, a dentist from the Atlanta area, drove up Friday night and arrived at the school at about 5:30 a.m. He learned about Remote Area Medical from a TV report on "60 Minutes".
Organizers told Kelly and other volunteers to expect a lot of people. But hearing that, and seeing hundreds of people in desperate need of medical assistance who lined up before sunrise, well, those are completely different things.
"It still hits you," Kelly said. "It opens your eyes.
"It makes you see what real need is."
Kenyatta Manns, an emergency room RN from George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C., came down to Blount County, on her own time, to volunteer in this weekend's RAM clinic.
Like Kelly, Manns said the number of people seeking help was staggering.
"I'm really overwhelmed," she said. "The need is just so great."
Zena Marashi, a senior nursing student at Knoxville's South College, was at the clinic volunteering Saturday. Since the doors opened at 6 a.m., "it's pretty much been non-stop," she said.
It's busy and it's exhausting, she said. But as long as people were still sitting in the bleachers waiting for their turn in the dentist's chair, being tired just didn't matter.
"It's like you're tired, but you feel bad for being tired," she said.
There were dentist's who had been on their feet all day long, but wouldn't take a break because that meant someone in the crowd had to wait even longer for care, Marashi said.
"It's astonishing how many people need (care)," she said. "It's really sad.
"Our country is so great in so many ways, but it doesn't seem to want to reach out to people (needing medical care)," she said. "We're still in the stone age in that regard, and it's sad."
Professionals who donated their time for the clinic -- who Marashi called "wonderful people" -- had not uttered a complaint the entire day, even though working on teeth at a middle school gymnasium was less than optimal, she said.
Moore -- who also called the medical professionals "wonderful people" -- said she was treated wonderfully by everyone at the clinic.
"All of them are so generous," she said. "They are so concerned about the patients.
"If my number comes up next, it was worth it to have gotten here at 1:40 this morning."
Hogan said organizers are planning on holding another clinic in 2010. But this weekend, this clinic, was a success, he said.
"Oh a great, great success."
http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20080713/NEWS/630896589
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