Deployed surgical team keeps troops close

  • Published
  • By Airman Alexis Lloyd
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  While light rock ‘n’ roll plays in the background, he has a look of fierce concentration. A facial mask covers his nose and mouth, white rubber gloves cover his hands and green scrubs cover the rest of his body as he works to repair a fractured wrist.

Maj. (Dr.) Warren Kadrmas, who is deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is one of five people on the mobile-field surgical team assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Medical Group at a forward-deployed location.

A typical team comprises a general surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, emergency physician, anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist, and an operating room nurse. It can rapidly deploy and create a portable treatment facility. All of the team’s equipment can be loaded into five backpacks -- each weighing 80 to 90 pounds, said Maj. (Dr.) Shawn Varney, an emergency physician also deployed from Lackland AFB.

“We can ... set up in 15 minutes for 10 life-saving surgeries or 20 resuscitation procedures in a 48- to 72-hour time frame without having to be resupplied,” he said.

The 379th EMDG team offers the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing officials an alternative to shipping people out of the area.

“We do the routine, urgent and elective procedures,” said Maj. (Dr.) Patrick Brooks is also from Lackland AFB. “Our capabilities provide for a better quality of life here on base. There’s no need to evacuate for appendicitis, hernia or broken bones. We do it all right here just like you could get at your home stations.”

The team’s members said they are very proud of the mission they support.

Of the surgical procedures Dr. Brooks performed, “not a single patient has been evacuated out of the (area) for recovery,” he said. “All have chosen to return to duty after a brief time on quarters. Their recovery times have been a fraction of what would be expected back at their home stations -- these people are here to get a job done.”

The team’s doctors said that while they are working out of an operating room, they are ready for any type of situation.

“Although we have not seen casualties here, we are always ready to do so,” Dr. Brooks said. “We have the team and equipment to care for most any trauma patient. We also must be here to care for patients in the event of a mass casualty scenario or any accident on base.”