Flight docs keep deployed force healthy

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Andrew Gates
  • 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  In a deployed environment, keeping assigned people healthy is extremely important because each deployed Airman is needed to accomplish the mission.

If one of those people gets sick or injured, his or her absence can significantly impact the mission.

Making sure the deployed Airmen here stay healthy is the responsibility of a flight doctor and two medical technicians.

“First and foremost, we take care of the aircrews and troops here,” said Capt. (Dr.) John Zurn, 355th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flight doctor. “We also take care of other aircrews who have medical issues.”

“We support the A-10 (Thunderbolt II) missions here, but we also serve the Army ground troops on occasion,” said Staff Sgt. Ray Hoven, a 355th EFS medical technician. “If you aren’t healthy, you can’t fight as well.

Since Dr. Zurn’s experience is with flying operations, he can target assistance to the A-10 pilots deployed here.

“I work a lot of sleep-cycle issues -- when a pilot changes from flying days to nights or vice versa,” he said. “I have to make sure the pilots get the proper rest. Since my job is to keep them flying I also know how to treat their health issues more aggressively. I can put a pilot back in the air in a day or two instead of a week.”

The doctor and his team deal with other matters as well. In essence, they are a two-bed hospital in a hut. They in-process and out-process all the Airmen coming into Bagram, ensuring they have the needed vaccinations and medications. They also deal with public and preventative health concerns, and are responsible for keeping a team of contracted air traffic management civilians healthy, as well.

Since arriving in April, the Airmen here have seen more than 1,600 patients, said the doctor. About half of those are for prescription refills, malaria pills and processing from within the theater.

“Since we have about 600 people stationed here, I am able to relieve some pressure (on) the Army hospital,” Dr. Zurn said.

“We encompass a lot of different missions,” Sergeant Hoven said. “For instance, when there is a mass casualty situation, we help take care of patients at a casualty collection point. We also help out occasionally at the Army cache, supporting local nationals and Army troops.”

“A lot of this we wouldn’t do at home,” said Dr. Zurn. “We wouldn’t be giving vaccinations, we wouldn’t be testing water and we wouldn’t be trapping flies -- we fill a lot of different medical positions here.”

With two beds in his hospital, Dr. Zurn can keep a couple patients for minor observations. For anything else, he refers the patients to the nearby Army hospital.

“I really can’t monitor critically ill patients, so I send them to the Army hospital,” he said. “We’re really used as a sick call -- the people who deploy are usually pretty healthy.”

One of the most exciting aspects of the job is also somewhat the most gruesome -- helping out at the Army hospital when people are injured.

“When helping out there, you see a lot of amputations and injuries due to land mines,” Sergeant Hoven said. “That’s where you get to see that you are doing something important, you can see the impact of what you do.

Being a part of ongoing operations, and making an impact on the local people, is important to the medical Airmen.

“I’m pretty excited about all this,” Sergeant Hoven said. “We face a lot of challenges in the medical arena. I don’t like to see people get hurt, but when they do, I want to be the one there to fix them.”