Reserve medics travel to Badlands to do good

Master Sgt. Melanie LaLiberty of the 445th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, left, teaches cardiopulmonary resuscitation to a staffer at Rosebud Indian Reservation Hospital. About 150 people signed up to take the course taught by Air Force reservists. (Courtesy photo by Senior Airman Beth Howard)

By Maj. Ted Theopolos
445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- A disaster does not have to strike for Americans to help other Americans in need.

Twelve reservists from the 445th Aeromedical Staging Squadron provided medical care to an American Indian reservation hospital in South Dakota during April.

The reservation, home to 30,000 Lakota Sioux, is located 35 miles north of the Nebraska border. The Sioux know this land as “mako sica,” which translates to Badlands.

The hospital has 35 beds, two operating rooms and an emergency room. It receives about 60,000 outpatient visits a year, and more than 5,000 patients require high-priority care.

"Life expectancy here is only 47 years old," said Col. Karen Nagafuchi, a nurse and the deployed commander. Compared to the rest of the nation, that is one of the worst life expectancy statistics inside the U.S. borders.

"The predominate problems here are heart disease, diabetes, cancer, tuberculosis and depression," the colonel said. "The infant mortality rate is very high compared to the nation."

The Air Force Reserve Command medical team consisted of medical administrative and logistics people, emergency room and public health nurses, emergency medical technicians and a dietician.

During their annual training tour, four EMTs moved 29 patients, Nagafuchi said.

On other emergency runs, reservists helped a person who had been kicked by a horse and with the birth of a baby girl, said Maj. Raymond Mick, chief nurse for the deployment.

With low pay and few attractions to draw qualified medics, the hospital welcomed the military.

"Respect for the military is high here," Nagafuchi said.

Diabetes is prevalent in American Indians on the reservation.

"Our dietary technician has been doing preventive clinics teaching dietetic skills to patients as well as the staff," Nagafuchi said. "The logistics person has helped inventory supplies, and our medical administrative people have helped process (more than) 3,000 claims, which mean reimbursement to the hospital.”

Two nurses worked in the emergency room and taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation to re-certify the hospital staff. They also helped with home visits to assist with medical care.

"We are just not in the hospital, we're out in the community doing public health visits," Nagafuchi said.

Nurses monitored the elderly by screening their weight, blood pressure and blood-sugar levels. They ensured patients took their medications correctly, as well as stops to screen pregnant women. Also, the nurses worked to help create a database to keep track of patients.

"On one of our nurse's visits, we helped a patient who was in congestive heart failure," Nagafuchi said. "They called for an ambulance to transport the person to the hospital."

Although it was challenging work, the colonel said “most of the reservists said this was one of the best tours they have been on.”