On Monday, May 23, owner Pamela Lockwood would have celebrated her fifth year in business at the Optical Outlet Center in Joplin, Mo. Instead, she spent the day digging through the rubble that remained after a devastating tornado had hit the previous night. “When we got there, the store was about a foot high—all four walls had just folded in,” Ms. Lockwood says. “We dug in debris for three days to see if we could find anything, but all of the stock is completely gone.”
St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo.
The twister damaged more than 500 commercial locations and 8,000 residential properties, according to estimates. Considered the nation’s deadliest single tornado in more than 60 years, it touched down on Sunday, May 22, measuring a half-mile across with winds above 200mph. Like many other business owners, Ms. Lockwood is working with insurance companies and struggling to figure out how she can rebuild—if she can rebuild.
The Missouri Optometric Association (MOA) has received calls from a number of other eyewear and eye care providers who were affected. They heard from a retired optometrist who lost his entire home, as well as optometrists Justin and Rebecca Stilley who said the tornado ripped the roof and second story off of their house. It damaged the office of Joplin eye care practice Brothers, Bezold & Associates, forcing the doctors and their staff to temporarily relocate to another local practice, Advance Family Eyecare.
Websites and social media outlets helped practices advise patients of their status. Brothers, Bezold & Associates updated its Facebook page after the storm, saying: “Our building sustained minor damage. As soon as we have electric and phone, we will be able to get things put back together. All employees are safe.” The Joplin Eye Laser Center informed patients that their building had suffered extensive damage and would be non-operational for an undetermined length of time.
A mobile eye care clinic in Birmingham, Ala., following the April 27th tornado. Photo courtesy of UAB.
As clean up continues, the MOA is providing Missouri O.D.s (members or not) with information for how to apply for grants from the AOA Disaster Relief Fund. Applicants must show that they suffered property damages as a result of the disaster and must submit requests for grants within two months of the disaster event. The MOA also says doctors are teaming up to provide needed care in the affected areas. Those whose offices were unscathed are tending to eye care emergencies and patients who have lost their eyewear.
The optometry community pulled together to provide similar relief efforts after tornadoes hit Alabama in late April. Vision Service Plan worked with the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry to send a mobile eye clinic to the area. Alumni and faculty helped more than 1,000 victims, providing free eye exams and replacement lenses.
“It was rewarding because I got a real rush from seeing the relief on the faces of patients who could finally see again,” says Felton Perry Jr., O.D., service director of community eye care at UAB’s School of Optometry, who helped run the mobile care unit sites. “I learned how to work better with other professionals in a high-pressure situation, and it gave me an opportunity to showcase my profession in a non-traditional environment.”
Optometrists from UAB School of Optometry helped more than 1,000 victims with free eye care. Photo courtesy of UAB.
Of course, volunteers met a number of challenges, including managing large numbers of patients in a short period of time, working with available equipment in “best available” space, and managing referrals and follow-up care in the storm-ravaged community. “I feel it’s important for O.D.s to help out with relief efforts because primary care is what we do, and this is a prime example of a circumstance requiring primary care,” Dr. Perry says. “It’s what we agreed to do when we took the Optometric Oath—it’s simply the right thing to do.”
Even if you can’t help on site, you can provide assistance by donating to the AOA Disaster Relief Fund. Visit the website for Optometry Cares—The AOA Foundation at www.optometryscharity.org/ofdr.
