 |
| Lt.
Col. (Dr.) Gene Gaspard (left) and Tech. Sgt. Ray
Salazar give a dental examine to a Guatemalan girl.
Airmen from the Air Force Reserve Command medical
community deployed here for a medical readiness training
exercise. During the 10-day deployment, the medical
teams treated nearly 1,000 people a day. Sergeant
Salazar and Dr. Gaspard are assigned to the 710th
Medical Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. (U.S.
Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Ruby Zarzyczny)
|
By
Master Sgt. Ruby Zarzyczny
939th Air Refueling Wing
Public Affairs
COBAN, Guatemala
-- Outside a primitive five-room elementary school,
hundreds of villagers lined up to receive medical, dental
and optometry care.
Airmen from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., provided the
care. The 33-person team had recently arrived to
provide medical care for 10 days at three schools in villages
in the mountainous region of central Guatemala. Air Force
Reserve Command’s 710th Medical Squadron at Offutt was
the lead unit for the medical readiness training exercise
that supports the humanitarian civic assistance program
through the international health specialist program.
The exercise provided free
medical care and education to Guatemalans who cannot afford
medical and dental treatment, eyeglasses or medication,
said Maj. Jerry Hall, 710th MDS medical planner.
The American doctors, dentists
and medical technicians received “unbelievable” medical
training, Hall said. During their stay in Guatemala, they
saw 8,505 patients.
“Seeing the tropical diseases,
they are seeing things they wouldn’t get a chance to see
in the U.S.,” he said.
The team consisted of 12
medical technicians, six physicians, four physician assistants,
two dentists, two dental assistants, two nurses and an
optometrist. They worked with Guatemalan military, community
and medical officials to care for patients.
“It is much better training
anytime you can actually practice your profession on real
patients,” said Col. (Dr.) Steven Gonzalez, 710th MDS
professional services chief and troop commander. “You
learn more, train better and improve your abilities. There
is only so much you can learn with simulations.”
The mission served many training
requirements, Gonzalez said. It helped prepare for pre-deployments
planning activities, and it provided training for the
employment aspect of deployments by arranging for airlift,
travel, billeting, meals the same way they would in real-world
operations.
Teambuilding was another
aspect of the training.
“While working together in
an adverse environment, we try to be flexible and get
through challenges the same as we would during a wartime
deployment,” Gonzalez said. “A sense of bonding between
comrades -- that bond is what makes the mission work.
Learning and cooperating is the essence of all military
operations.”
Col. (Dr.) Donald Grande,
a dermatologist from the 66th Medical Group at Hanscom
AFB, Mass., said he saw cases in Guatemala that he had
only read about.
“Dr. Grande has been invaluable
to the other physicians,” said Maj. (Dr.) Collen Kelley,
a flight surgeon from the 439th Aerospace Medical Squadron
at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. “He has been able
to diagnose many patients, and I have been able to learn
so much about tropical skin diseases from him in the last
week.”
Grande saw more than 450
patients in his first six days in country. His cases included
leishmaniasis, a disease transmitted by the black fly;
fungal infections such as actinomycosis of the jaw; pigmentation
disorders; and skin cancers.
“One woman I saw had a large
bleeding basal cell carcinoma, a common skin cancer on
her nose,” Grande said.
His treatment improved the
woman’s health as well as her quality of life. Without
the treatment, the skin cancer would have continued bleeding
and could have spread to the bone.
“It gives me a great feeling
to provide care to the patients we’ve seen during this
training exercise,” Grande said. “It makes me feel like
I’m making a difference by helping these people.”
About two-thirds of the patients
in the clinics were children. And, although all the physicians
in the clinics treated children who came to the clinic,
Maj. (Dr.) Yvette Guzman, from Robins AFB, Ga., was the
only pediatrician on the deployment. Her primary concern
about the children was a lack of awareness in nutrition,
prenatal care and hygiene.
“If the children here were
provided a daily balanced meal, they would be growing
according to the Academy of Pediatrics standards,” she
said. “Right now, most of the children are at the 30th
percentile (because of a) lack of nutrition.”
Other major concerns for
the children were numerous cases of skin infections and
parasites.
“I have seen an overwhelming
amount of scabies,” Guzman said. “Because the children
play in the dirt, (and) the family sleeps in the same
bed … the whole family is affected.”
This problem could be solved
with soap and clean water.
“Educating (them) population
about hygiene and nutrition is the key to improving the
Guatemalan’s lifestyle,” she said. “Teaching the children
in school about health, hygiene and nutrition through
visual aids like coloring books helps educate them as
well as their parents about a balanced diet, the food
pyramid and basic hygiene like brushing your teeth and
washing your hands and face.
“I saw 10 children who had
chicken pox when the vaccination for chicken pox is available
and free in Guatemala,” she said. “Educating (them) about
the importance of vaccinations and annual physicals for
children could also improve the health of Guatemalans.”
Guzman said she was overwhelmed
by the poverty and lack of resources.
“It makes my heart sad, but
I’m happy that I’m here to help the (children),” she said.
“The Guatemalan people are very humble and very grateful
for what we are doing for them. They asked me when we
can come back.”
Besides treating patients,
the team offered preventive health information and education.
“The purpose of providing
preventative health education is to reduce widespread
diseases like intestinal parasites and scabies,” said
Maj. (Dr.) Ronnie Roen, a flight surgeon from the Air
National Guard’s 117th Air Refueling Wing at Birmingham
Airport, Ala.
Before the patients were
treated individually by the general medicine physicians,
they gathered together in one area while Dr. Roen and
other members of the team gave preventive health classes
and explained how to prevent diseases.
“We taught the people how
to prevent intestinal parasites by boiling their water,”
Roen said. “We also explained the importance of good hygiene
and the need to quickly treat skin parasites because they
spread rapidly.”
The public health team also
treated parasites on a widespread basis during these classes.
“We de-wormed everyone because
the parasites spread from person to person, so if we take
care of everyone at once it’s no longer there to spread,”
Roen said.
“We have seen a great deal
of poverty and suffering among the Guatemalan people,”
Gonzalez said. “The people know to boil their water, but
they can’t afford to chlorinate it, and the infrastructure
cannot afford to provide clean water.”
Preventative health care
will help the people, but they need improvements to their
country’s infrastructure to obtain the best preventative
medicine -- clean water, Gonzalez said.
