Makers create surgical tools for doctors in Ukraine

Surgeons in Ukraine and Poland will soon use medical tools handmade in Milwaukee.At Milwaukee Makerspace on South Lenox Street volunteers are using their expertise to help strangers more than 5,000 miles away.Dr. Steven Birkholz spends his retired days with Glyn Livermore working on aluminum. They are creating tools used in surgery.”I’m an orthopedist with a machining problem,” Birkholz told WISN 12 on Wednesday. “I love it.”He is part of the Isaiah Mission Foundation.It’s a small organization started five years ago to create medical supplies.”Now you have a drill for surgery, and instead of costing $5,000, it costs $50,” Birkholz said.The tools were first sent to hospitals in Africa. More recently, Birkholz changed gears creating an external bone stabilizer for orthopedists in Ukraine.”It kind of bypasses the fracture but stabilizes it. Now you can transport the patient…