Medical walk-ins welcome at Pacific Angel

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield
  • Operation Pacific Angel 2011 Public Affairs
COM, Timor Leste (AFNS) --  Com Primary School is one of two locations that hosted Operation Pacific Angel, a health service outreach operation providing free medical care to the people of Timor Leste Sept. 19-23.

Operation Pacific Angel is a joint and combined humanitarian assistance operation led by 13th Air Force at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. The operation supports U.S. Pacific Command's capacity-building efforts by partnering with other governments in the region to provide medical, dental, optometry, veterinary and engineering assistance to their citizens.

A contingent of 13 U.S. military service members, four Falenti Falintil-Forças de Defesa de Timor-Leste medics and  translators setup a clinic here geared toward dental, optometry, women's health, general medicine and public health education programs. These activities are aimed at improving the immediate health of the Timorese living in the town and providing a brighter future through better sanitation practices.

"We anticipate on seeing a lot of patients here," said Capt. Marlon Muthuveeran, the Com medical site lead. "The majority of our patients will probably be seen by our dental and optometry providers. We are also expecting to see patients with respiratory complications and dermatological issues are whole staff will be fully employed."

The small L-shaped school, with six medium sized rooms, were now open not to students, but to whoever required medical treatment. Each room contained a specialty clinic ranging from public health to the pharmacy. After the patients made their way through the school's courtyard, they were registered into the clinic where they were given a public health brief before departing to the clinical specialty they required.

"We decided to use this type of processing line to keep things as organized and efficient as possible," said Master Sgt. Sean Simler, the medical readiness. "This way, we can also ensure that every patient gets seen and receives the information and care they deserve."

Patients were allowed to see only one specialty at a time, if they needed further medical attention they were required to start the process over again. This was done, in an effort to get as many people seen as possible.

Public Health was chosen as the first stop for patients after registration to assist medical personnel in reinforcing the importance of following important sanitation practices known to stop the spread of disease and infection.

"Public health is here to educate the town's people on proper sanitation practices in an effort to help prevent the spread of diseases and other illnesses that are endemic to the area," said Tech. Sgt. Tou Moua, the public health flight chief. "By using the tips and instructions such as washing their hands frequently, the patients can prevent the vast majority of the common illnesses they suffer from today."

During its first day, Pacific Angel's health service outreach operations in Com and Baucau serviced more than 600 Timorese patients, extracting 96 teeth, filling 800 prescriptions and issuing 218 people with glasses.

"I'm very happy the Americans are doing this," said Marta, a resident of Com. "This is the only opportunity my family and I have to receive medical care. Thank you."