Inside a Remote Area Clinic: Charity mission treats 1,700 uninsured Americans desperate for free medical care Read more: http:/

It is a dark, wet July evening and hundreds of men, women and children are outside patiently queuing to receive free medical care.

The huge crowd desperate for medical attention are not from a third-world, war-torn country but hail from 14 states across the U.S. and have travelled to Wise, Virginia for care.

With no health insurance or too little insurance, they have no alternative but to get a numbered wristband and wait their turn to be seen by doctors, nurses and dentists inside - not a hospital - but a marquee.

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Hopeful: With little or no medical insurance, people desperate for free care wait to receive a wristband number before they can be treated at the Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic in Wise, Virginia on Friday night

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Huge operation: 1700 patients from 14 states turned up to receive free treatment, including dental care, at the charity's 647th expedition

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Desperate: For people with no medical insurance, RAM clinics provide a rare opportunity to receive basic medical care, including eye tests

Over three days last week, 1,700 patients received treatment for everything from cancer screenings to root canal surgery at the Remote Area Clinic (RAM) temporarily set up in the southwest Virginia town.

Without the free treatment provided by RAM, these people may never receive care, the charity’s website says.

With thousands of people to attend to, RAM operates out of simple marquees full of medical equipment and lines of collapsible hospital beds.

Although undeniably tight for space, the mission is clearly organised with military precision boasting separate sections for dental, eye, and basic medical care.

Hundreds of volunteers get to work performing eye tests, providing fillings and removing teeth as well as routine screenings and cervical smears.
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Roll up, roll up: A placard advertises the RAM clinic in Wise, Virginia which served 1,700 people from 14 U.S. states who cannot afford medical insurance

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No Weapons Allowed': Patients are warned of the charity's rules

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Examinations: Patients sit in line to wait for their eye exams in the makeshift surgery

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Vital stats: When their turn is called, patients have their vital stats recorded before receiving treatment
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Informative: A board lists the variety of medical talks offered at the three-day clinic

The RAM clinic in Virginia on July 20 was the 647th expedition since the charity was launched in 1985.

Stan Brock, the former co-host of NBC’s Wild Kingdom, was inspired to set up the charity after living in the Amazon basin where receiving health care involved a 26-day trek.

Figures from 2010 show that RAM provided free health care to 22,983 patients totalling free care of $9,862,980, according to the charity website.

Of the 49.9 million Americans without medical insurance in 2010, 7.3 million were children.
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Dental work: A dentist drops extracted teeth into distilled water, left, while Joe Roberts, from Sutherland, Virginia, waits in line to have ten teeth pulled out

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Stan's the man: Founder Stan Brock, center, calls patients' wristband numbers. Brock founded the charity in 1985

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Tended to: A patient has her blood pressure taken before receiving treatment

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Impressive: The charity managed to see 1,700 patients over three days at the local Fairgrounds in Wise, Virginia

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Healthcare: There are approximately 50 million Americans with no medical insurance, including more than 7 milli

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...l#ixzz21fqZo59T