INGLEWOOD — Judging by the images being broadcast worldwide, of rows of people waiting to be treated by doctors and nurses dressed in scrubs and working inside a vast arena, the sights looked a bit like a scene from the classic television show “M.A.S.H.”

But this was no war zone on the Asian peninsula. It was the floor of the Great Western Forum, where at least 2,000 people had come in the hopes of getting free medical services from a small army of licensed, volunteer health professionals.

Hosted by Faithful Central Bible Church, the Remote Area Medical Foundation (RAM), a trailer-equipped service that stages health clinics in rural parts of the U.S., Mexico and South America, brought its health camp to Los Angeles for the first time in its history.

Beginning an eight-day stint at 5:30 a.m. each day, organizers described their L.A. camp as their first foray into a major urban setting.

Advance word of the event, spread through radio, print and local community organizations, was such that people camped out overnight to be among the first in line to secure a ticket to be seen. The allotted 1,500 tickets were handed out by 4:30 a.m. Monday; by 11 a.m., there were still hundreds of people joining the throngs.

Founded in 1985 by Stan Brock, the mobile clinic is based in Knoxville, Tenn. According to Executive Director Karen Wilson, since 1985 RAM has treated nearly 380,000 patients and provided care valued at $36.9 million.

A feature on the organization last March by CBS’s “60 Minutes” brought RAM into the national spotlight.

“Something needs to done about this situation. L.A. is no different than other parts of the country,” said Brock during a media briefing about people’s need for health care. “Just 10 days ago we were in Southwest Virginia. We treated 2,715 people in two days. We had 1,784 volunteers, pulled out over 4,000 teeth and made over 1,000 pairs of [eye] glasses. It’s no different here than Detroit, New York City or those rural areas.”

He added: “We’re not picking on L.A., it’s been like this for decades. It’s just that there is more focus and attention on the problem like never before.”

In response to a question from The Wave, Brock said that his organization does take responsibility if any procedures go wrong or if there are any misdiagnoses.

“Well, of course, somebody has to take responsibility for that and that’s something we do. But I can say in almost half a million patients [that] we’ve seen, that has never been an issue.”

On Tuesday, local and national dignitaries helped welcome RAM to the venue, including Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn, council members Ralph Franklin and Judy Dunlap and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles).

“I welcome RAM to this community and thank Stan Brock and the hundreds of doctors, dentists, nurses, optometrists and other health care professionals who are here today,” said Waters. “Today around 47 million Americans do not have health insurance and there is a desperate need for access to affordable health care. So, whilst the debate goes on and on in Washington and across the country on how best to improve health care, RAM is providing free care to thousands of L.A. residents today.”

RAM patents on Monday included the likes of 52-year-old Debra Johnson, who worked for a brokerage firm for 20 years and now finds herself unemployed.
Johnson snagged ticket number 720 and was waiting to get her eyes checked out and for dental work.

“I’m also on medication that I haven’t taken for a long time and the clinic is an opportunity for a doctor to check me out and write a new prescription,” said the unmarried Los Angeles resident. “I heard about the event from someone in my mom’s beauty salon and got here at around 3:30 a.m. My mom came with me.
The process has been pretty nice and I [have] no complaints.”

As for the professional volunteers, doctors, nurses, etc., who will be on duty at the Forum through Aug. 18, they came from near and far.

Dr. Armando Lopez, 81, is a retired general dentist teacher at USC and also volunteers at The Union rescue mission.

“I love dentistry, although at my age I should probably be relaxing and playing golf,” said Lopez. “But I have plenty of free time and I like to help. Plus, I’m not that good a golfer so I gave it up a long time ago.”

Meanwhile, John Weiss, 60, a retired optician from St. Louis, who with his wife was on his 13th RAM mission, also loves to keep active.

“It just shows the hole we have in this country for health care,” he said, “and the deserving people who need help.”