Standard Equipment & Training

With more than 28 years of experience in repairing cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities, we’ve standardized our practices, equipment and anesthesia, especially as they relate to the special needs of children, to ensure the safest surgical environment possible.

State-of-the-art equipment and biomed training is provided to our partner countries to ensure that all children treated will benefit from the same quality of technology, regardless of where they receive care. When not available in a partner country, our mission teams bring standardized, high-quality equipment with them to the mission site.

Other standard practices that distinguish an Operation Smile mission include

• Providing emergency supplies in accordance with American Heart Association guidelines for pediatric and advanced cardiac life support.

• Biomedical technicians to ensure that medical equipment on each mission meets Operations Smile’s Global Standard of Care.

• Delivering training during its international medical missions, ranging from a workshop on a specific skill or technique to certification in life support for thousands of in-country volunteers.

• Certifying thousands of in-country volunteers in Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) — as an International Training Organization of the American Health Association.

All Operation Smile operating rooms are equipped with the most up-to-date medical and emergency supplies, comparable to the best hospitals in the world and certified by the American Heart Association. Our programs and missions are designed to meet the needs of the facilities and health care providers at the time of our missions — to ensure more children are safely healed after we leave.

Learn more about our medical volunteer opportunities.