Deployed medics face gamut of medical conditions

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Rich Romero
  • 40th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (AFPN) --  When providing medical care at a remote location, the pace of business and the variety of medical conditions can change quickly.

For medical Airmen with the 40th Air Expeditionary Group at this forward-deployed location, it has been a combination of business as usual and urgent issues requiring 12 medical evacuations.

“It seems surprising to have that many medevacs since we have a bunch of young, healthy people,” said Capt. (Dr.) Kevin Turneau, a flight doctor. The unrelated cases included appendicitis, heart attacks, a seriously gashed finger and a collapsed lung.

Because the medical facility here does not have the capability to perform surgery, Dr. Turneau said there is no room for error when medics medevac patients to the next level of care for appropriate treatment.

“People at other deployed locations have quicker access to emergency care,” the doctor said. “We travel extremely long distances because of our geographic location … to get a patient to definitive care.”

Except for serious cases that require a medevac, the Navy clinic and Air Force medics provide much of the same basic care Airmen would receive at home station. That includes flight medicine, family practice, preventative health medicine, bioenvironmental and public health.

“We see a lot of sports injuries, particularly sprains,” said Senior Airman Carla Chandler, a medical technician. “What we don’t see a lot of is colds, not near as much as at home.”

“Think about it and you can see why,” said Dr. Turneau, who is deployed from Minot Air Force Base, N.D. “There are no children to spread germs. … People just don’t want to get sick, either. They’re mission focused.”

Although Dr. Turneau and Airman Chandler, who is also from Minot, form two-thirds of the flight medicine staff, they pull duty both at the family practice tent as well as on call for the Navy clinic.

Even though the Navy clinic provides 24-hour emergency care in addition to family practice and dental care, it is still important to maintain an Air Force medical presence.

“The Navy provides care that we can’t,” Dr. Turneau said. “At the same time, we can’t expect the Navy to take care of our aircrews’ medical needs when they don’t even know what those are. As a courtesy for the support they provide, we pull on call occasionally to give their people a break.”

People also feel better being cared for by people they know from home station, Dr. Turneau said.

As a result of what they have experienced since being here, the Air Force medics will take back lessons learned to improve their prescreening program.

Because this location is different from other deployed areas, Dr. Turneau said Airmen may feel that medical post-screening is not necessary. But that is not the case, he said.

“Although much of what people are exposed to here is the same as at home station, people are working at a pace they’re not used to,” he said. “As a result, fatigue seeps in and that makes people susceptible to a lot of problems. It also tends to uncover something that would otherwise go unnoticed.”