Flying Samaritans Arizona, Tucson Chapter

Laguna San Ignacio, BC, Mexico Information

	The Laguna San Ignacio (LSI) clinic is located about 400 miles south of San Diego on the pacific side of Baja California. The Tucson chapter built a dedicated clinic that was dedicated in 2008. The building has separate areas for medical and dental, with a separate private room for OB/GYN and minor surgery. The clinic's water system uses barrels of water that are stored in a rooftop cistern, and gets its power from a propane fuel generator.
The LSI dental room has three chairs for dentists or dental hygeinists. In a typical one-day clinic, the dental team sees as many as 35 patients and conducts over 60 procedures. The procedures include extractions, fillings, and hygiene. Video of the dental facility at LSI.
	The LSI clinic has a pharmacy that has many over-the-counter medications plus antibiotics, hearing-aid batteries, vitamins, and other items that physicians and dentists may need throughout the day.
Rounding out the facility are a large exam room that can be separated into separate areas using curtains. There is a chiropractic table in one corner that is well-used when a chiropractor is on the trip. The Tucson chapter conducts clinics on the third weekend of September, November, January, March, and May.
	A typical clinic weekend begins on Friday afternoon when everyone arrives at Hotel Serenidad in Mulege on the Sea of Cortez side of Baja. We then get an early start on the 30-minute flight to the Pacific side. The local people transport us from the airport to the clinic where we begin. The local people provide lunch around 1:00 and it is back to work in the afternoon. Around 4:00 we head for the airport and fly back to Hotel Serenidad for the evening. We return to Arizona on Sunday morning.
Here is a short video that begins with a morning view at Hotel Serenidad in Mulege. The well-maintained dirt runway is the statring point. The video follows with views of the mountains and the ridge that the planes fly over. The airstrip at Laguna san Ignacio gets most of its use during the whale-watching season from mid-january through late March. It is closed the rest of the year except when the Flying Samaritans have a clinic. LSI Video

Flying Samaritans Arizona
Tucson Chapter
P.O. Box 40431
Tucson, AZ 85717