Airmen are working to improve the lives of patients at two Bishkek medical facilities.

Last week, volunteers from the Manas Air Base Outreach Society, or MABOS, visited patients in a children’s heart ward and a burn unit in medical centers in Bishkek. They delivered donated medical supplies, linen, toys and treats for the children.

They also met with doctors to make arrangements for helping improve capabilities for the long term; pay for a doctor’s advanced training from the heart ward; work toward creating an in-house rehabilitation training program; and improve medical equipment at the burn ward.

The burn ward is located in Bishkek’s trauma center. The center has just one physical therapist who is rarely able to visit the burn ward, said Maj. (Dr.) Stephania Timothy, a surgeon with the 376th Expeditionary Medical Group here and leader of the burn ward MABOS group.

To help fill the need for a physical therapist, she and others from the surgical team are working with people in Colorado Springs, where their unit is based at the Air Force Academy, to create a rehabilitation program for the ward.

As skin heals over severe burns near joints, a complication called contracture may result if the joint isn’t straightened and exercised. The new skin will contract the limb in an angled position, in some cases severely limiting the person’s mobility. The two doctors and four residents in the burn ward are not trained in physical therapy to combat this complication.

With help from two rehabilitation centers in Colorado, Major Timothy and Capt. Jeff Burgess, a nurse with the 376th EMDG, are creating posters illustrating exercises for each room in the ward. They’re also arranging for production of an instructional video. After the residents and doctors teach the patients the exercises, patients will be able to follow the instructions and illustrations on the poster and continue the rehabilitation independently.

“This is significant,” said Major Timothy. “(Contracture) can be painful. Limited mobility makes it difficult to work. We’re doing what we can to make their lives easier.”

Colorado Springs has a “sister city” agreement with Bishkek; Major Timothy’s husband discovered the connection after she began working with the burn ward.

The two hope to arrange a mission with family and friends and return to Kyrgyzstan to continue working with the burn ward after Major Timothy separates from the military in July.

The volunteers returned to the children’s heart ward later the same day. While most of the group passed out donated treats, toys and coloring books to a few children who had roused from their afternoon nap, group leaders Tech. Sgt. Michel Lagua and Staff Sgt. Michael Champion met with the head surgeon and one of the ward’s anesthetists.

The medical group and the 376th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron fire department, with the help of some base officers, raised more than $1,000 to send anesthesiologist Dr. Gulbarhin Usupbaeva to a training course in Armenia. She will specialize in anesthesia and postoperative care of children weighing less than 10 kilograms.

The anesthesiologist’s training will be a considerable benefit to the facility, as their patients are sometimes younger than 2 years old, and often small in stature for their age because of their condition, Sergeant Lagua said.

Heart problems in children are a consistent issue in Kyrgyzstan, due to poor prenatal nutrition and the high altitude of some of the villages. The surgical team at the center donates their services, but must charge about $560 for the use of the oxygenator that sustains the children during the operation, said Dr. Rayapov Nuzkan, a surgeon. During this rotation, the heart ward focus group has raised money for eight surgeries.

Made up of 10 different “focus groups,” each focusing on a different Kyrgyz institution, MABOS also works with a children’s cancer ward, orphanages, a vocational school, a foundation for elderly women and a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The organization is run and funded entirely by Airmen, who participate off-duty by organizing trips, collecting donations and participating in the visits and projects themselves.

Besides giving him an opportunity to make a difference during his deployment, Sergeant Champion said the trips to the heart ward are a balm to the deployed soul, and make it easier to be away from his own young children.

“When you get right down to it, playing with the kids is the most important thing,” he said. “It’s good for them just to know we care.”