Airmen provide free services, products to Hondurans

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joel Mease
  • Joint Task Force-Bravo Public Affairs
SANTA BARBARA, Honduras (AFPN) --  More than 740 people from the village of San Antonio De Canada, Honduras, came to a medical readiness training exercise condcted by the Joint Task Force-Bravo Medical Element here July 25.

The exercise was designed to provide U.S. servicemembers with real-world training in austere locations, as well as provide a population of people free medical care from U.S. and Honduran medical professionals, said Master Sgt. Laurie Walters, JTF-Bravo NCO in charge of Medical Element.

During the visit, patients received medical care ranging from medical screenings, provider visits, medications to dental services and cervical cancer screenings. The lines were extended by more than 100 people at times, with waits of up to three hours or more, to be seen by a U.S. or Honduran medical provider.

While the MEDRETE attracts several hundred people to see medical professionals, the goal for medical officials is to provide preventative medicine for those who attended, said Dr. Wilmer Amador, a liaison officer for MEDEL.

"When we do these MEDRETE there is obviously a large lure to the local population to see a doctor," Doctor Amador said. "Unfortunately, the amount of medical services we can provide is limited because we don't have labs or ultrasounds at our disposal, so promoting preventative medicine becomes the key."

One of the preventative medicine items that can prove to be extremely effective is screening for cervical cancer.

"We are fortunate to have two technicians from the Emma Romero de Callejas Cancer Center in Tegucigalpa come with us," Doctor Amador said. "The earlier we are able to detect cervical cancer the better. If it's too far along we are limited in what we can do for that person."

Other preventative health measures they were able to stress were the importance of clean water and personal hygiene.

"When we are in the rainy season, one of the biggest problems we can have is a rise in dengue fever, so we try to stress preventative measures. That's where we get the most bang for the buck," said Dr. Miguel Caello, a liaison officer for MEDEL.

For those in the village, having medical care come directly to them is a unique experience as being seen by a medical professional will not come often in their lives, Doctor Caello said.

"One of the biggest challenges for them is access to medical care," Doctor Caello said. "After spending time talking with them, I found that it can take maybe six to eight hours to travel to a hospital here because of the roads."

The location was chosen from a list provided by the Honduran Minister of Health Office that detailed the most remote areas. Santa Barbara District was a location JTF-Bravo has wanted to visit for the last four years, but for operational or other reasons couldn't, Sergeant Walters said.

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

View the comments/letters page