Lions Club children's vision testing, Daly City and Pacifica

Pacifica Tribune/Jean Bartlett Features Correspondent, 7/6/16. "Pacifica Lions make children's vision a priority."

"According to KidsGrowth.com, a site developed by pediatric and adolescent medical providers, “One out of every eight children 4 years old or younger has some type of vision disorder.” The doctors go on to stress that most of these problems can be managed with eyeglasses and some may not require treatment. A few can be serious if left undetected.

I see you, do you see me?

Oh bother... see I'm good.

....  Both the Lions Club of Daly City and the Lions Club of Pacifica are very active in multiple service projects in their communities, including eye care. Recently the Pacifica Lions Club purchased a Spot Vision Screener, a handheld, portable device weighing in at approximately 2.5 pounds, designed to help users quickly and easily detect vision issues on patients from 6 months of age through adult. The Pacifica Lions Club raise money to fulfill projects needs here in town. In this case, the volunteers spent approximately $8,000 on the Spot Vision Screener and its supporting printer. (The Daly City Lions Club is also equipped with a vision screener.)

At the June 18 Kops& Kids event, hosted by the Pacifica and Daly City Police Departments and presented at Sea Bowl Entertainment & Bowling Center, Pacifica Lions joined forces with members of the Daly City Lions to provide free vision screenings. Twenty-seven individuals, primarily kids but ranging in age from 14 months through adult, were screened by Pacifica Lions board member Sue Beckmeyer and Pacifica Lions incoming president Shirlee Gibbs. Gibbs said the screening went smoothly and was met with lots of enthusiasm. Lion Arnie Benjamin, Pacifica’s longtime eyeglass chairman, and Lion Don Fleming, Daly City’s white cane chairman, were also both extremely inspired by the results."  Read article.

 

Reference. Pacifica Lions Club.  Current and immediate past Officers.  Facebook. Quoted source, Kids Growth.com/about. "KidsGrowth.com is a unique Web site tailored specifically toward the concerns and interests of today's parents. The site was developed and created by well-respected medical leaders in the field of pediatrics and adolescent medicine. Members of the Medical Advisory Board oversee all KidsGrowth content, thereby guaranteeing its medical accuracy."  Related, Lions Clubs International Sight Programs.  Times-Standard/Heather Shelton, 9/13/15. "Local Lions club to offer free vision screening." "A simple, hand-held tool called a Spot Vision Screener is helping local Lions Club members to identify vision problems in children and adults. 'This device is able to screen individuals of all ages and is proven to be helpful in early detection of vision issues in young children,' said Cyndi Bainbridge, who oversees the Spot Vision Screener program for the McKinleyville Lions Club. ... Spot Vision screens for myopia (near-sightedness), hyperopia (far-sightedness), anisometropia (unequal refractive power), astigmatism (blurred vision/eye structure problems), strabismus (eye misalignment) and aniscoria (pupil size deviations), she said." McKinleyville is located on the coast in Humboldt County, see Wikipedia, and Chamber of Commerce.

Related, new "rat lab" blindness discovery. Time/health/medicine/Alice Park, 7/11/16, "In a scientific first, blind mice regain eyesight." "In an astonishing study, scientists restored the sight nerves in blind mice, helping them to see again. Once the optic nerve that’s responsible for sight is damaged, it’s impossible to see again. At least that’s been the dogma. But a group of U.S. scientists has upended that thinking and helped mice with destroyed optic nerves to see again. It does not have immediate implications for humans yet, but it points researchers in promising new directions." Note photographs. Boy with big glasses from New Parent,"Does Your Child Need Glasses?" Girl being tested by Autumn Driscoll/Hearst Connecticut Media, slide 2 from Greenwich Time, 10/8/15,"Greenwich's Lions clubs give vision screenings at St. Roch's preschool."

Posted by Kathy Meeh