Small group takes small packages, makes huge impact

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jeff Loftin
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  When servicemen find themselves in harm's way they reach for a small item with a huge impact -- the individual first aid kit. A process here ensures they can depend on what's inside.

Two Airmen from the 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron and three from the 379th Expeditionary Medical Group inventory, inspect, replenish and distribute the kits for the entire Southwest Asia area of responsibility.

"This is your immediate frontline, lifesaving capability," said Tech. Sgt. James Tew, 379th EMDG NCO in charge of warehouse and distribution. "That is about as important as it gets as far as I'm concerned."

Individual first aid kits must be recertified by medical personnel anytime a seal is broken or an item in it expires. The 379th ELRS is responsible for retrieving, inventorying and distributing the kits around the AOR.

"Every time a kit is issued out to a customer, whether or not they are used, they have to come back and be recertified to ensure nothing has expired," said Tech. Sgt. Magdalina Winfield, 379th ELRS NCO in charge of Mobility Inventory Control and Accountability System team. "They are shelf-life items, and we want to make sure they have the good stuff out there. We also try to make sure they are good to go if they are on a 365-day deployment."

Once Sergeant Winfield receives the kits from various locations in the AOR, medical logistics personnel pick them up and recertify them.

"Recertifying it means you take it out and make sure nothing is expired and nothing is opened," said Sergeant Tew, deployed from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. "They all have to be factory sealed. When we've done that we put them back in the kit and seal them with what's called a quick lock. It's a little red plastic tab. It's not hard to break out of, but it shows if it has been looked into or pilfered. As soon as it's opened it's considered compromised and we have to recertify it. Most of the time that just entails looking to make sure all the expiration dates are good and that it's still sealed."

Medical personnel then affix a certification label to the kits and send them back to 379th ELRS. There they are inventoried, new expiration dates are recorded and they are redistributed.

"The concept behind us being the theater distribution center is we try to make it easier by having the assets located in the AOR," said Sergeant Winfield, deployed from Lackland AFB, Texas. "If we have everything for them here it's less strain on the forward deployed locations. Smaller bases don't have to stock as many items. Here we have a constant rotation and don't have to worry about the items just sitting there collecting dust. It makes it easier on everybody."

The process has recently undergone some improvements which are saving a lot of time and money for 379th ELRS and 379th EMDG personnel as well as the warfighter.

"The IFAKs became a big deal at the end of June," said Sergeant Winfield, who hails from San Antonio. "We realized our database wasn't reflecting correct information on the expiration dates and we were wasting a lot of IFAKs. So, we started inventorying every one we get back from the medical group. The process is saving a lot of IFAKs and time. When we give items to our issue tent, we want to give them items they can issue without having to research. When we give them incorrect information on the IFAKs, it takes longer to process the line and for people to get where they're going. The inventory is saving about an hour of time per customer."

Medical group members have also found a way to save time and money on the process. 

The kit is now divided into three modules. The minor module consists of things to treat an everyday type of wound such as bandages and antibiotic cream. The trauma module consists of lifesaving items like tourniquets, airway devices, bandages and scissors. The third module contains Quick Clot, which is a haemostatic agent that is poured into a wound to stop the bleeding.

"Initially we had the Quick Clot and the trauma modules put together, but what we found was when the Quick Clot expired the whole module was no good," Sergeant Tew said. "What we did was make the Quick Clot its own module. Now when it expires the trauma module is still good because nothing in there has an expiration date."

Now medical personnel just inspect the three modules as a whole. If something is expired they just do a one for one swap with replacement stock. This saves going through each line item in the kit.

"It takes about a minute and a half per kit on average," said Sergeant Tew, who hails from Mobile, Ala. "That is one of the things that is great about the whole modular concept. If we replaced line item by line item it would take 10 minutes per kit."

With the new process down, the small group of 379th ELRS and 379th EMDG personnel was able to recertify and redistribute more than 7,000 kits in the past few months. At one point last month they were processing up to 300 a day.

The process takes about a week to recertify 1,000 kits and get them back into the hands of warfighters where they can continue to make a huge impact, Sergeant Winfield said.

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

View the comments/letters page