Airmen travel to Guatemala to train, treat patients

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Ruby Zarzyczny
  • 939th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
COBAN, Guatemala (AFPN) --  Outside a primitive five-room elementary school, hundreds of villagers lined up to receive medical, dental and optometry care.

Airmen from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., provided the care. The 33-person team had recently arrived to provide medical care for 10 days at three schools in villages in the mountainous region of central Guatemala. Air Force Reserve Command’s 710th Medical Squadron at Offutt was the lead unit for the medical readiness training exercise that supports the humanitarian civic assistance program through the international health specialist program.

The exercise provided free medical care and education to Guatemalans who cannot afford medical and dental treatment, eyeglasses or medication, said Maj. Jerry Hall, 710th MDS medical planner.

The American doctors, dentists and medical technicians received “unbelievable” medical training, Major Hall said. During their stay in Guatemala, they saw 8,505 patients.

“Seeing the tropical diseases, they are seeing things they wouldn’t get a chance to see in the U.S.,” he said.

The team consisted of 12 medical technicians, six physicians, four physician assistants, two dentists, two dental assistants, two nurses and an optometrist. They worked with Guatemalan military, community and medical officials to care for patients.

“It is much better training anytime you can actually practice your profession on real patients,” said Col. (Dr.) Steven Gonzalez, 710th MDS professional services chief and troop commander. “You learn more, train better and improve your abilities. There is only so much you can learn with simulations.”

The mission served many training requirements, Dr. Gonzalez said. It helped prepare for predeployments planning activities, and it provided training for the employment aspect of deployments by arranging for airlift, travel, billeting, meals the same way they would in real-world operations.

Teambuilding was another aspect of the training.

“While working together in an adverse environment, we try to be flexible and get through challenges the same as we would during a wartime deployment,” Dr. Gonzalez said. “A sense of bonding between comrades -- that bond is what makes the mission work. Learning and cooperating is the essence of all military operations.”

Col. (Dr.) Donald Grande, a dermatologist from the 66th Medical Group at Hanscom AFB, Mass., said he saw cases in Guatemala that he had only read about.

“Dr. Grande has been invaluable to the other physicians,” said Maj. (Dr.) Collen Kelley, a flight surgeon from the 439th Aerospace Medical Squadron at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. “He has been able to diagnose many patients, and I have been able to learn so much about tropical skin diseases from him in the last week.”

Dr. Grande saw more than 450 patients in his first six days in country. His cases included leishmaniasis, a disease transmitted by the black fly; fungal infections such as actinomycosis of the jaw; pigmentation disorders; and skin cancers.

“One woman I saw had a large bleeding basal cell carcinoma, a common skin cancer on her nose,” Dr. Grande said.

His treatment improved the woman’s health as well as her quality of live. Without the treatment, the skin cancer would have continued bleeding and could have spread to the bone.

“It gives me a great feeling to provide care to the patients we’ve seen during this training exercise,” Dr. Grande said. “It makes me feel like I’m making a difference by helping these people.”

About two-thirds of the patients in the clinics were children. And, although all the physicians in the clinics treated children who came to the clinic, Maj. (Dr.) Yvette Guzman, from Robins AFB, Ga., was the only pediatrician on the deployment. Her primary concern about the children was a lack of awareness in nutrition, prenatal care and hygiene.

“If the children here were provided a daily balanced meal, they would be growing according to the Academy of Pediatrics standards,” she said. “Right now, most of the children are at the 30th percentile (because of a) lack of nutrition.”

Other major concerns for the children were numerous cases of skin infections and parasites.

“I have seen an overwhelming amount of scabies,” Dr. Guzman said. “Because the children play in the dirt, (and) the family sleeps in the same bed … the whole family is affected.”

This problem could be solved with soap and clean water.

“Educating (them) population about hygiene and nutrition is the key to improving the Guatemalan’s lifestyle,” she said. “Teaching the children in school about health, hygiene and nutrition through visual aids like coloring books helps educate them as well as their parents about a balanced diet, the food pyramid and basic hygiene like brushing your teeth and washing your hands and face.

“I saw 10 children who had chicken pox when the vaccination for chicken pox is available and free in Guatemala,” she said. “Educating (them) about the importance of vaccinations and annual physicals for children could also improve the health of Guatemalans.”

Dr. Guzman said she was overwhelmed by the poverty and lack of resources.

“It makes my heart sad, but I’m happy that I’m here to help the (children),” she said. “The Guatemalan people are very humble and very grateful for what we are doing for them. They asked me when we can come back.”

Besides treating patients, the team offered preventive health information and education.

“The purpose of providing preventative health education is to reduce widespread diseases like intestinal parasites and scabies,” said Maj. (Dr.) Ronnie Roen, a flight surgeon from the Air National Guard’s 117th Air Refueling Wing at Birmingham Airport, Ala.

Before the patients were treated individually by the general medicine physicians, they gathered together in one area while Dr. Roen and other members of the team gave preventive health classes and explained how to prevent diseases.

“We taught the people how to prevent intestinal parasites by boiling their water,” Dr. Roen said. “We also explained the importance of good hygiene and the need to quickly treat skin parasites because they spread rapidly.”

The public health team also treated parasites on a widespread basis during these classes.

“We de-wormed everyone because the parasites spread from person to person, so if we take care of everyone at once it’s no longer there to spread,” Dr. Roen said.

“We have seen a great deal of poverty and suffering among the Guatemalan people,” Dr. Gonzalez said. “The people know to boil their water, but they can’t afford to chlorinate it, and the infrastructure cannot afford to provide clean water.”

Preventative health care will help the people, but they need improvements to their country’s infrastructure to obtain the best preventative medicine -- clean water, Dr. Gonzalez said. (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)