Navy-led Arctic Care team returns to Western Alaska

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachelle Coleman
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFNS) --  Personnel here were part of a team that participated in a joint Air Force, Army and Navy medical and dental exercise in 11 of Western Alaska's most remote villages March 6 through 15.

The purpose of  the exercise, the 15th annual Operation Arctic Care, was to enable medical personnel to operate in a joint environment while also bringing health care and veterinary support to underserved populations in the Yukon-Kuskokwin Delta region.

Led by the Navy, this year's medical readiness exercise was based in Bethel, Alaska, where the military provided colonoscopy and pediatric oral surgery teams to augment services at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Hospital, along with an audiologist, mental-health clinicians, a physical therapist, an emergency-room physician and an obstetrician/gynecologist. Other medical exercise participants traveled to 11 villages in the region.

"The mission provides team members a chance to interact as a joint team in a unique environment," said Master Sgt. Carmen Cate, Arctic Care Team coordinator, "For this year's mission to Bethel, I assisted in selecting the optometry team members consisting of 14 optometrists and 14 ophthalmic technicians, including five from Eielson."

The exercise was a success and participants were glad to have been part of it.

"The Operational Health Support Unit headquarters staff at Camp Pendleton (near San Diego) has been engaged with this exercise for over a year, and we are excited to get it off the ground," said Navy Capt. Patricia Reisdorfer, lead planner for Operation Arctic Care 2009. "All the branches of the military are present, and people are motivated for this mission. It's so rewarding to be here doing medical outreach for people who really need it."

Operation Arctic Care 2009 was conducted in cooperation with and under the supervision of Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. Teams of medical, dental, optometry, nursing and Army veterinary personnel provided care in the delta villages of Alakanuk, Atmauthluak, Chevak, Hooper Bay, Kalskag, Kwethluk, Kwigillingok, Mountain Village, Newtok, Quinhagak and Toksook Bay.

Reserve and active components of the Army, Army National Guard, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard provided the personnel and equipment for the operation. Uniformed officers from the U.S. Public Health Service also participated.

Harsh weather conditions occasionally posed a challenge in getting flights out to villages via Alaska Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters. But that was all part of the mission, which is intended to simulate military and civilian medical outreach operations in time of crisis, conflict or disaster, exercise officials said.

"Our chief sent out an e-mail about a year ago looking for people who were interested in coming up here, and I volunteered right away," said Tech. Sgt. Hermann Schieder, an optometry technician attached to the 43rd Aerospace Medical Dental Squadron at Pope Air Force Base, N.C. He spent the week conducting eye exams for the people of Toksook Bay, population 549.

This year's mission made a footprint months before medical teams began deploying. In September, the Navy's leadership team conducted a site survey to assess each village's needs, and in January two Marine Corps electricians and an Air Force biomedical technician installed wiring connections for villages to communicate with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation via video teleconferencing. A total of 33 villages benefited from the work.

The people of the Yukon-Kuskokwin Delta appreciate the opportunity to receive health services through Arctic Care.

"During the site visit, I went to a grocery store, and one of the natives asked where I was from," Captain Reisdorfer said. "I explained that I was with Arctic Care, and he said, 'I am so happy you are here. We have been waiting for you.'"

Veterinary care was a critical component of this year's operation. Dog bites are a leading cause of injury in the Yukon-Kuskokwin Delta. Every year, bites and mauling cause dozens of injuries and hospitalizations, sometimes even death. Children are usually the victims of these attacks.

"Animal health and human health go hand in hand," said Army Maj. Angie Parham of Athens, Ga. "Our goal is to get all the animals we can vaccinated. Rabies is our main concern, since it can be transmitted to humans. But we'll deworm and vaccinate for other dog diseases as well to try to keep the animals healthy."

Teams from the Army Veterinary Command spayed and neutered pets and taught courses on animal husbandry and the importance of hand washing.

Rotating to different areas of rural Alaska each year, Arctic Care has been to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta three times: in 1997, 1998 and 2001. Last year's mission was performed in Kodiak and six of the island borough's villages. Over a period of 10 days, military health-care providers treated 127 medical patients and 188 dental patients, made 232 pairs of glasses on site, certified 42 students in CPR and vaccinated 422 animals.

Covering an area the size of North Dakota and South Dakota combined, the 2009 exercise served even greater numbers of native Alaskans.

"Many of these people aren't fortunate enough to have the amenities we take for granted in the lower 48 states," said hospital corpsman Derek Gaudin of Baton Rouge, La. Sent by the Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Activity, his job during Arctic Care was grinding lens for eyeglasses that were delivered to people in the villages.

Operation Arctic Care is sponsored by the Innovative Readiness Training program under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.

(Navy Petty Officer Matt Grills, Operation Arctic Care Public Affairs, contributed to this article) 

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