POF History
Seattle-based orthopedic surgeon Ernest M. Burgess, M.D., (1911-2000) founded the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation in 1989 to help alleviate the suffering of amputees worldwide. Dr. Burgess initially wanted to contribute to healing the wounds of war that remained in Vietnam. Quickly, he saw the larger need for prosthetic assistance to men, women and children around the globe whose limbs have been taken by war, landmines, accidents, and other tragedies.
Dr. Burgess understood that regaining mobility is a critical first step on the long road to recovery for amputees. Being able to walk again, amputees can work and provide for their families. Children can go to school and develop much needed friendships. Parents can care for their children and contribute to the enrichment of their community. Amputees can begin to rebuild their lives, transforming a life of dependency on others into a life of increased self-worth and independence.
Since opening the first prosthetics clinic in Vietnam in 1990, POF has responded to calls for prosthetic assistance from the Philippines, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka. POF has also established prosthetics and orthotics (p&o) centers in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, and Haiti and founded clubfoot programs in Vietnam and Sierra Leone.
POF’s work not only provides immediate help to amputees and individuals with limb deformities but also facilitates the transfer of technology and emphasizes the training of people in developing countries to build an infrastructure of prosthetic and orthopaedic care that can be sustained locally.
Worldwide, POF has helped more than 18,000 child and adult amputees walk again since its founding.
