Duty brings out best in Balad hospital volunteers

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott Wagers
  • U.S. Central Air Forces Forward News Team
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  A patient being rolled into Balad Air Base's Air Force Theatre Hospital should not be surprised if the Airman holding the IV bag is an F-16 Fighting Falcon crew chief.

And, if the patient is a little uneasy about that, there likely is an air traffic controller or an administrative specialist standing nearby to offer words of encouragement while a structural engineer fluffs the patient's pillow.

The patient needn't worry. The Balad AB hospital isn't outsourcing its medical staff. It is simply using volunteers, of which there seems to be no shortage. 

Although volunteers do not perform medical tasks they are not certified or licensed to do, their assistance is nonetheless welcome -- and their contributions significant.

On any given month at the hospital here, more than 200 deployed men and women, mostly from the Air Force and Army, volunteer an average of 2,500 hours of free time and days off to help the hospital staff and patients in any way possible.

"Our volunteers already have full-time jobs putting in a full day," said Maj. Danelle Roddy, the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group Nutritional Medicine Flight commander and hospital volunteer coordinator. "Then they're coming over here and giving whatever time they can before they go home exhausted, or they come here and work during their off days."

Word of the volunteer program is spread via base introduction briefings, public information bulletins and word of mouth. People expressing an interest in volunteering are given an orientation briefing then allowed to select a specific ward to work in.

"Not everyone is cut out to see some of the types of injuries we see, so each volunteer finds an area in the hospital that operates inside (his or her) comfort zone and (he or she) contributes there," said Major Roddy.

Tech. Sgt. Ron Stokes, an F-16 crew chief deployed from the Oklahoma Air National Guard's 138th Fighter Wing in Tulsa, Okla., is no stranger to the emergency medical scene. When not on duty, he works as a rescue diver with the Oklahoma Disaster Response Task Force.

"Unfortunately, I rarely deal with living, breathing human beings," he said as he described swimming through dark, murky water searching for lifeless victims of water-vehicle mishaps common to his home community.

While most hospital patients arrive alive and conscious, Sergeant Stokes, who is a permanent fixture in the emergency room when not working a 24-on, 24-off shift, admitted it presents new emotional challenges for him.

"One minute you might be working with an American Soldier, the next minute a friendly Iraqi, and soon after that it may be a hostile insurgent. I really wasn't expecting that," he said describing life in the level-3 trauma center that provides all patients, regardless of origin, the same quality of care.

While using his left hand to squeeze a ventilator that breathes oxygen into an unconscious base contractor, the 16-year veteran finds his volunteer work satisfying.

"I knew that my job as an alert crew chief working on scramble jets would be important. When I look back, I'll be proud of what I did working in my primary (specialty), but I'll look back with more emotion to the work I'm doing in the emergency room for these guys who've been dealing with snipers and suicide bombers," he said.

Putting his volunteer experience in perspective, Sergeant Stokes added, "If you think you're having a bad day, come spend about 30 seconds over here and you'll realize your day is not so bad."

According to Major Roddy, most stateside military hospital volunteer staffs consist of retirees and military dependants vs. active duty, Guard or Reserve Airmen. Although retiree and dependant volunteers have more available time to donate than deployed service members, the ratio of volunteers per hospital bed at Balad AB, compared to U.S.-based hospitals, is considerably higher.

For example, the Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., is a 98-bed facility that employs an average of 60 volunteers, which works out to two-thirds of a volunteer per bed. The Balad AB hospital is a 58-bed facility that garners 200 volunteers monthly from the base population. That's 3.44 volunteers per bed, Major Roddy said, who is deployed from the 99th Medical Wing at Nellis AFB.

The hospital's proximity to the war front, combined with sporadic mortar attacks and the continual "thump-thump-thump" of medevac helicopter blades shaking offices and living quarters as wounded are flown in from outside the wire, serve as a constant reminder of deployed life inside Iraq's Sunni Triangle.

Senior Airman Jamie Hennessey, an air traffic controller at the base, makes it her business to watch inbound choppers (known locally as "hero" or "angel" missions) carrying the wounded across the Department of Defense's single busiest runway. When she's not volunteering at Balad AB's hospital, she marshals some 17,500 sorties per month. The work not only keeps her gainfully employed, but it reminds her of the sacrifices being made by fellow service members.

"It makes your heart swell for these guys ... you don't know who they are but you feel so sorry for them and they're so brave at the same time," said the Airman who is deployed from the 347th Operations Support Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga.

Airman Hennessey, who still dreams of becoming a pediatrician some day, uses her bubbly personality to chat with patients while "keeping it light." She also seeks out tedious, time-consuming tasks like filling syringes, which frees the staff to concentrate on more critical needs.

Medical Nurse Maj. Stacy Greene sees tangible benefits of the volunteer program. "Sometimes you feel overwhelmed and think you're having a hard time handling it all, until you see someone volunteer on (his or her) off time when (that volunteer) could be sleeping or relaxing," she said. "It gives us more pride in what we do."

Staff Sgt. Robert Bouick, a 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels specialist, knows he can't do what many hospital patients were doing before getting injured. Nearly discharged twice because of back complications, he said he persuaded physicians to allow him to continue serving on active duty by vowing to deploy to a war zone. Keeping his promise, he soon received orders for the Kyrgyz Republic -- then swapped assignments with a co-worker who was going to Iraq.

"My wife was (upset)!"said the nine-year veteran from Fairchild AFB, Wash. "I figured that after spending a few years working as my unit's deployment manager, sending all my co-workers to a hot zone like this, it was my turn to do it."

Now deployed as a force protection escort, Sergeant Bouick works 12-hour shifts with 115 other Airman to maintain "positive control" of nearly 400 host and foreign national contractors who work at Balad AB each day.

When asked about his volunteer time at the hospital, he said, "It's not the blood and guts that bother me, it's seeing our guys shot up; the emotional toll."

Much like his decision to come to Iraq, the soft-spoken sergeant seemed driven by a sense of duty rather than his emotions.

"Sacrificing my free time is nothing compared to the sacrifices made by the patients I provide comfort to," he said. "Military service is about sacrifice. If you take out the sacrifice, it's just a job. That's what gives it its honor."