Some 'doctors' still make house calls

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Stefan Alford
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
Have mat, will travel.

That is the newly adopted creed of the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group's three-person physical therapy team at a forward-deployed location in Southwest Asia. The 332nd EMDG is from the 10th Medical Group at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.

Realizing that many of the pilots supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom do not have time to visit the base's hospital tent, Maj. Laura Fields and her crew are making time to go see them -- at their operations centers, debriefing rooms or the tents they work and live in.

"A lot of them are working 12 (to) 16 hours, and they just can't make it over," said Fields, a physical therapist with a master's degree in sports medicine. "They work long hours and then go into mandatory crew rest. They go to sleep feeling stiff, sore and in pain because they don't have enough time in the day to come in and be treated."

While that treatment may look like a simple back and neck massage to the untrained eye, it is actually a three-to-five minute muscular relaxation session and joint realignment, said Senior Airman Amy Rodriguez, a licensed physical therapy assistant with the 332nd EMDG. The treatment sometimes involves a little electroshock therapy using a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator, she said.

"We use the TENS mostly for sharp pains," Rodriguez said. "Depending on the settings, we can tire out the muscle or stretch the muscles out a little more to help take the pressure off of the nerves."

The sessions are short, but effective, according the pilots who benefit from the traveling health-care providers.

"It's amazing, but after a few minutes I feel completely recharged, and the kinks are gone," said Marine Capt. Kyle, an AV-8B Harrier pilot with Marine Attack Squadron 214.

"On some missions, I'm sitting in the cockpit for six hours, and I always come out with my lower back feeling real sore," Kyle said. "I think it's a combination of being strapped into the seat so tight and the limited range of motion while being buckled up. These treatments are great for getting me back into flying shape."

Several hundred Air Force and Marine pilots here would seem to agree, judging by the numbers seen by Fields and her staff. They've already provided more than 600 treatments, many to returning "customers," since implementing their program at the end of March, they said. They perform their services six days a week and visit a different flying squadron each night.

"I see us performing a mission-essential service in keeping the pilots mission ready," said Fields. "We're trying to prevent herniated disks and realign the disks, ligaments and spine.

"Flying crews traditionally avoid medics like the plague, but we search them out now so they can't run and hide," Fields joked. She explained that pilots are hesitant to see a doctor and complain about back pain because "most docs would say 'Oh, back pain, take pain killers,' which would ground them. They don't want to be (taken off flying status) and we help keep them from reaching that point."

Fields said that her mission here includes more than just providing temporary pain relief to her patients. She is also exploring the root causes to determine a possible long-term solution.

"While I'm here, I'm researching the biomechanics of cockpit seats on all the different aircraft here (including A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, F-16 Fighting Falcons and F-18 Hornets), and I'll publish the data from what I find on this deployment," she said.

So far, she has found the setup in the AV-8B to be the least friendly on pilots' bodies.

"They get in and immediately go into what I call the 'Harrier hunch.' The monitors they look at are very low, so they compensate, and it's terrible for their necks and backs," she said.

Another widespread source of neck pain, she said, is the wear of night-vision goggles.

"Some nights I can't sleep it hurts so bad," said Marine Capt. Jaden, a Marine weapons and sensors officer on the F-18. "I fly pretty much every day and don't have time to get to the medical facility, so this is the cheater's method for me (in getting treated). It's a great temporary relief, but the upper back pain is chronic - it always comes back."

Following the "house call" treatments, Fields, Rodriguez and Airman 1st Class Ken Schroeder always leave their patients with exercise tips and teach them stretches they can do before and after flights to prevent neck and back spasms in the future.

"Physical therapy has never really deployed before," said Fields, "so we're trying to show (our) wartime mission."

"Our whole goal is to get them back out there so they can perform their wartime mission at 100-percent effectiveness," said Schroeder. "I feel like I'm making a difference for the overall mission here by allowing the pilots to do their mission better."