Upper Extremities at SRT Prosthetics On-Line

Sam Santa-Rita, owner of SRT Prosthetics and Orthotics, has four locations: one in Fort Wayne, one in Kokomo and one each in Bryan and Defiance, Ohio.

Name: Sam Santa-Rita

Age: 41

Company: SRT Prosthetics and Orthotics

Title: Owner

Education: Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo

How did you get into the prosthetics business?

A friend of our family … was a Vietnam veteran, who was not injured in the war, but after his time that he served they offered him educational opportunities. He happened to pick prosthetics and orthotics … The Air Force trained him. He became a prosthetist and opened a facility in Toledo, Ohio. It was only about two miles from my house. My parents knew him, he was their age, and I was a 12-year-old kid that was looking for summer work and odd jobs after school. (He) hired me to do all the things the adults didn’t want to do …

When I ran out of work outside, they moved me inside. And next thing you know, I’m doing what we would call basic technical work … When I finished by bachelor’s (degree) I was 22 and not working for (him) at the time. He hired me back … My father’s a doctor and I really enjoyed the patient care aspect of it. But I wanted to work with my hands quite a bit and thought (prosthetics) was a good blend … There’s a lot of craftsmanship that goes into it.

Why did you decide to open your own business?

I had managed for two of the largest companies in this profession and enjoyed that, but the pressures of working for a large company just wasn’t really fitting what my personal goals were. When you work for a company that’s publicly traded, the profits do come first and we have an obligation to the shareholders to provide them with profits. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just the nature of that type of business. And patient care sometimes was secondary …

I turned it around and said if we take care of our patients we won’t have to worry about the profitability of this business … Being able to control the philosophy of the company has been very important to me. You have to start with patient care and end with patient care. Everything else will fall into place if you’re managing wisely.

What is the greatest challenge you face each day?

It appears that we have a (younger) generation or two of people that have not been involved in the workplace and don’t understand what customer service looks like. Sometimes their expectations are unrealistic. They’ve never provided customer service, much less good customer service. So they don’t understand or appreciate the fact that they’re being treated as individuals and not as just a number … People think that you’re supposed to be at their beck and call at any hour. That’s been a challenge.

Name one thing people don’t know about your job.

This is a fun place to work. Our patients are very fun, happy people with a very positive outlook on life. Most of them have cheated death and they know it. The majority of our patients are very driven to prove to themselves and family members and other people that they’re whole again and they’re not handicapped … This is not a depressing place to work. We have a very good time here. We really do.

By Derrick Gingery.

This article about a SRT patient appeared in the May 6, 2009

issue of The Paper of Wabash County:

Phillips remains optimistic during recovery process

by Shaun Tilghman

Hannah Phillips, 18, Wabash, has been through a lot in the past month as she attempts to put a horrific workplace accident behind her.

On April 8, Phillips was cleaning a meat grinder while working at Kroger, Wabash, when her right arm became caught in the machine and was severed just below the elbow. She was flown to Parkview Hospital, where she underwent multiple surgeries, and had to stay there for almost two days.

When Phillips was released from the hospital she knew she still had a long way to go, not only in recovering physically but also in adjusting both mentally and emotionally.

“They told me I’d have to do exercises with my arm to strengthen my muscles and once I got my stitches out I had to clean it and change my bandages – that kind of hurt,” she explained.

“I just have to keep in mind that I still have one (hand), I can still do things. In some ways I’m better off than a lot of people who get hurt in accidents; yes I may look different, but things could be worse.”

Phillips participates in therapy two or three times per week at Occupational Therapy, Fort Wayne. She spends at least an hour on the rehabilitation process during each session, which involves Fluidotherapy – a treatment meant to decrease pain, increase mobility, and desensitize the skin of the affected appendage.

“I have to do therapy to teach my brain that this is now the end of my arm,” Phillips said, “because right now I can still feel my hand.”

She also said that she takes the bandages off and rubs a terry cloth over the end of her arm to desensitize the nerves.

Along with her therapy, Phillips has been busy learning about the options she has in terms of a prosthetic.

“Technology is absolutely amazing, the stuff I’ve seen and the arm I’m getting, it’s all amazing,” she explained. “I could get a hook but the guy I’m working with said I wouldn’t like a hook, that it’s not something an 18-year-old girl would want.”

She could have also chosen not to use any type of prosthetic at all but she felt that it would be in her best interest to have one, because there is a greater risk of developing carpal tunnel or arthritis in her remaining hand if she only uses it to do everything.

The prosthetic she has selected is called a Myoelectric Arm, which is equipped with a hand that moves and allows for the thumb and first two fingers to move as well. She had to choose between a manual wrist, which could be turned using her good hand or another object, and a wrist that is controlled by muscle contractions – she will have the latter, which means she will have to learn which muscles control which movements all over again.

“I’ve talked to one woman who had been through something similar and she is doing really well and does a lot on her own,” Phillips said.

“I just tied my own shoes again for the first time a couple days ago and I sent texts to everyone to tell them – it’s not a big deal to someone with two hands but it is when you have to learn to do it all over again with just one hand – I was really proud.”

Phillips recently attended her prom at Northfield High School and did so with a prosthetic arm in place. It wasn’t the one she will be getting on a permanent basis, it didn’t move and was just for looks, but it made her a little more comfortable while attending the event.

“The people at SRT Prosthetics and Orthotics (Fort Wayne) didn’t charge me anything or make anyone pay for it, they just wanted me to go to prom,” Phillips added.

This wasn’t the only display of support Phillips has received since her accident though; she has gotten cards, gift cards, and money too.

“Everybody wants to help,” she said, “people have come over and brought dinner while I was living at my boyfriend’s mom’s (Angie Kline) house because she had taken personal days to stay home all week and help me. They want to help her since she is helping me, while she was still taking care of her kids too.

“I was in foster care for a while and it’s not always easy to see that people actually care, but since this has happened everyone has been offering to help, and letting them help is good because it makes them feel better too.”

Kline had been driving Phillips to her therapy sessions because she was advised not to drive that far with the medications she has to take, but she will start driving herself to Fort Wayne this week.

Phillips has been working on a compensation agreement from Kroger and says she might even go back to work there someday but that she has other plans for her future as well.

“I want to go to college,” she said, “but I have to get used to my new prosthetic once I get it – I have to see what all I am able to do.

“I also want to be able to do a job normally but that’s not going to be an option with some jobs. I wanted to be a nurse or a veterinary technician so I could help people or help animals, but now I have to learn to use my other hand more before I can even think about those jobs as part of my future.”

Phillips returned to school on Monday to attend classes during the second half of the day, she doesn’t have classes in the morning because she was involved in the ICE program prior to her accident. Her life is beginning to regain some sense of normality but she wants to express her gratitude to all those who have helped her in getting to this point:

“I just want everybody to know I’m grateful for everything they’ve done,” she explained. “The Kroger stores from all over have been great and I’ve gotten over 100 cards; it’s hard to get a thank-you to everyone so hopefully this lets people know I appreciate their support.”

Targeted Muscle Reinnervation Surgery

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