The plastic surgery source

You know me best as office manager at Orange County Plastic Surgery. All of us at OCPS are encouraged to give back to our communities. Since 2012, I have served as a CERT member (Certified Emergency Response Team) here in Orange County. Every three years, the authorities at John Wayne Airport, Airport Police Services (APS), OC EMS and fire agencies have an opportunity to exercise their emergency response processes, protocols, and procedures. And as a CERT member, I got to help them with their drill this year!

I was part of a group of 65 CERT members chosen to participate in an assigned scenario as a role player with simulated injuries following a plane crash. My assigned role was a 33-year-old female with major burns on both legs, respirations high at 34 per minute (in shock), pulse present and I was able to follow commands. I was evacuated from the plane within 15 minutes of the start of the drill, placed in a triage area, and then transported via ambulance to a destination across the parking lot. Drill over! This was a great experience.

Participating agencies included CERT teams from Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine, CHOC, Hoag and UCI hospitals, Fire departments, Search and Rescue, HAZMAT teams, the Red Cross, ambulance companies, TSA, OC Sheriff, all authorities from John Wayne Airport – even the Coroner’s office was there. The volunteers had extensive make-up applied to make their injuries appear realistic. These exercises insure that in the event of an emergency, these very well trained professionals will be familiar with the situation and be there ready to assist those in need.

You can participate in volunteer emergency preparedness courses in Orange County and surrounding cities, including CERT training and courses provided by the Red Cross. These courses teach you what you can do to help the next time we experience a California disaster, such an earthquake, fire, flood, storm, landslide, tsunami, transportation accident or hazardous material spill. Our last major disaster was the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, so we are due for another one, folks. If you are interested in becoming a CERT member or volunteering, please contact your local police or fire department for details. Do your part to give back to your community!

Occasionally patients will ask what types of liposuction we offer at OCPS. Much like prescription medications are marketed through TV commercials (“Ask your doctor about (enter newest drug here)…” medical devices and procedures are increasingly being marketed directly to the consumer as well. Liposuction techniques have been around for decades but there have been several advances.

Four main types of liposuction exist currently: Traditional manual liposuction, Power assisted liposuction (PAL), Ultrasound assisted liposuction (UAL), and laser assisted liposuction. (LAL). All four types use suction to remove the fat from the patient. Manual liposuction uses the motion of the surgeons’ arms and hands to pass the cannula back and forth in the subcutaneous fat to remove it. PAL builds on traditional manual liposuction by adding a mechanical oscillation or vibration of the liposuction cannula. The oscillating cannula is very rapid and allows the fat to be removed faster and more easily. It may result in slightly less pain, swelling and bruising vs traditional manual liposuction. Manual and PAL allow fat cells to be removed intact and therefor can be used for fat grafting to other areas of the body. Ultrasound assisted liposuction and the newest VASER (vibration amplification of sound energy and resonance) uses ultrasound on the cannula. This destroys the fat cells before they are suctioned out and allows for a faster procedure. Laser assisted liposuction also known as “smart lipo” uses laser energy to soften and destroy the fat before it is suctioned out. UAL and laser liposuction make the procedure easier for the surgeon but the actual benefits over PAL to the patient are minimal. Laser liposuction and UAL also present added potential risks of unintentional burns to the skin. For the majority of my liposuction cases I use PAL. This allows me to harvest intact fat cells that can be transferred to the buttock, face and breasts for augmentation.

For CA, please call 949-888-9700 or visit www.orangecountyplasticsurgery.com
Or for MA location, call 508-755-4825 or visit www.salisburyps.com

You can write to
Dr. John Compoginis at Contact Us Form
Dr. Staci Compoginis at Contact Us Form
Dr. Deborah Ekstrom at mds@salisburyps.com
or Dr. Juris Bunkis at Contact Us Form