Physical, occupational therapy fixes strains and sprains

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Colleen Wronek
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  People flock to the physical and occupational therapy clinic here from far and wide to make their strains, sprains and breaks feel better.

“Were conserving the fighting strength,” said Maj. Joel Robb, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron’s physical therapist and flight commander, whose home station is Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England. “People from all over Iraq drop off injured folks, and we do what it takes to get them back on the job.”

As the only Air Force physical and occupational therapy clinic in U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility, it sees more than 800 patients a month. The staff rehabilitates coalition forces, Iraqi national guardsmen, locals and people from third countries as inpatients and outpatients. Twenty percent of their patients come from forward-deployed locations, officials said.

“The people who come in from (forward-deployed locations) don’t usually have a lot of time, so we give them what they need as soon as possible,” said Capt. John DaLomba, 332nd EMDOS occupational therapist. He is deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

The clinic rehabilitates people who have fractures, sprains, strains and wounds and who are recovering from surgery. Its goal is to eliminate unnecessary surgeries, reduce evacuations and rehabilitate patients, Major Robb said.

“If it weren’t for us, these people might have been sent back home unnecessarily,” he said.

The clinic has two physical therapists who specialize in spine, neck, knee and other injuries, and one occupational therapist who specializes in upper extremity injuries such as shoulder, elbow and hand injuries. The clinic also has two technicians who assist the therapists.

“Some people we’ve seen have been seriously injured,” Captain DaLomba said. “Our technicians are vital in helping people get moving again.”

The technicians aid the therapists in various ways, including making casts and splints, removing staples and performing treatments such as applying heat or ice packs and giving exercise instructions to the patients.

“It’s kind of chaotic here helping the providers,” said Tech. Sgt. Todd Norman, noncommissioned officer in charge of physical and occupational therapy. “You see things you wouldn’t normally see, but the work is very rewarding.”

Sergeant Norman, who is also from RAF Lakenheath, said one patient injured his shoulder in an explosion. The explosion did not wound him, but the blast concussion injured him.

“The patient said he couldn’t move his shoulder so we kept him here for a week treating him with heat and exercise,” he said. “We didn’t have to (evacuate) him, and within seven days he was back on duty. Knowing our work allows patients to return to their work is very rewarding.”