Medical assistance mission treats patients, builds relationships in Peru

Published April 10, 2009
By Tech. Sgt. Eric Petosky
12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) Public Affairs

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- The Alto Amazonas province of Peru teems with steamy jungles, rugged terrain and swarms of insects. But these obstacles were no challenge for a 15-member Air Force medical team that was in the area to provide care to the local population as part of the Riverine Project.

The Riverine Project encompasses an isolated area called the Loreto Region in North-Central Peru. The program was instituted following a four-year study by the Navy to assess the region's population for adverse medical trends. Then twice a year, for the next three years, medical teams from the United States will adjust the treatment to engage these problems head on.

"The goal here is to establish ourselves and show we are committed to these communities," said Frank Campuzano, 12th Air Force Humanitarian Civic Assistance Program senior program analyst. "If we send teams to a different place every time, how will we know if we've had an impact? Not only will we continue to adjust our treatment program as the project progresses, but we will also identify the needs of that area to the regional government in a concerted effort to render the appropriate patient care."

For this trip, the team brought specialists in the areas of optometry, dermatology, infectious diseases, dentistry, oral surgery, internal medicine and pediatrics. Aside from the 15-member medical team, four support Airmen with such specialties as communications and force protection also supported the Riverine Project. Since the project is fundamentally a partnership between the United States and Peru to provide care for its secluded citizens, there were more than 50 Peruvian military, Ministry of Health, and civilian practitioners who were instrumental in making the mission a success.

Master Sgt. Jesse Moreno, 12th AF Surgeon General's noncommissioned officer in charge of Public Health, was the primary liaison between the medical team and the Peruvian Navy who transported the Airmen to their operating locations. The sergeant said that regardless of the challenges, the mission was very successful.

"It's very remote," he said. "The people there have little in the way of creature comforts as we know them. Life is very different. I spoke to one shopkeeper who proudly showed us an alligator skin. One of our team members commented that alligator tails were tasty. The store owner's wife quickly responded, 'Here, those things eat us.' How is that for perspective?"

Among these austere conditions, the chance to receive quality medical care is a rare one for the people who live here. For one patient, though, the opportunity came at exactly the right moment.

"We were unloading the medications and setting up the pharmacy at the local school in Puerto America, where we would be seeing patients the next day," Sergeant Moreno said. "An elderly gentleman approached me and asked if I could see his daughter. Hastily, I told him we would be seeing patients the next day, and to come back then. He was persistent. 'Please doctor, please help me,' he pleaded."

Feeling a sense of empathy as a parent, and sensing the urgency in the man's voice, Sergeant Moreno convinced the doctors to see the man's daughter early. She had been bitten by a snake, and her lower leg was swollen and showing the early signs of necrosis. Untreated, she could lose her leg or die from infection. The team gave her antibiotics and arranged transport via river boat for the three-hour trip to San Lorenzo, where she was treated further.

"The physician in San Lorenzo assured me the girl was fine," Sergeant Moreno said. "She would be keeping her leg and should be out of the hospital in four or five days. He thanked me profusely for the antibiotics and transportation assistance. Her outcome would certainly have been much worse if we had not happened by. I am looking forward to seeing a smiling little girl instead of the frightened, crying one I last saw."

Sergeant Moreno also attributed the partnership between Peru and the United States to the story's success. He said that without boats and sailors to pilot them, Marines for security, and the assistance of local and government health officials, the Riverine Project would not be a successful one.

"On the surface, it appears that the Americans came in and provided a great service for the Peruvian people, but it's important to understand that even from the earliest planning stages, the Peruvian Navy and Ministry of Health were integral to our mission," he said. "They were working right alongside us the entire time."

The outcome of the partnership is a positive one for the people of Peru. During the two-week medical engagement mission, the team visited four villages and saw more than 3,600 patients. But for every one seen, there were dozens left untreated.

"It is very rewarding for me to have been a part of the mission we accomplished," Sergeant Moreno said. "Unfortunately, it is but a drop in the bucket. As we prepared to leave each village, we had to turn people away. We could have probably stayed in one village the entire time and still not seen everyone."

Another Air Force medical team is already scheduled to visit the same area in the Peruvian Alto Amazonas District in September.

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