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Volunteers form critical link in hospital's 'care chain'

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Don Branum
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFNS) --  Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters descend on the Patient Administration and Disposition landing zone Joint Base Balad, Iraq, their blades kicking up dust as they blow air outward at speeds of 50 mph or more. Noise from the Black Hawks' rotors drowns out any attempts at conversation, so the helicopter crews and PAD staff use hand signals to communicate with volunteers, who approach with caution.

The volunteers take up positions beside the door of one helicopter and carefully unload a litter carrying a patient and medical equipment onto a waiting gurney. They wheel the patient through Hero's Highway and into the Air Force Theater Hospital's emergency room here. Without their efforts, a critical link in the Air Force's "care chain" would suffer.

Staff Sgt. Angelica Pinkney is the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Support Squadron's night shift PAD boss, which puts her in charge of training and coordinating the PAD's many volunteers. A native of Freeport, Texas, she joined the Air Force in 2002 because she wanted a job in the medical career field. She deployed here in September.

"I don't want to be anywhere else," said Sergeant Pinkney, who is deployed from Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. "We're helping people here. What we do gives me a real sense of accomplishment."

On average, about 200 people volunteer at the PAD each month, contributing anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 total volunteer hours.

"We have people who are out here every night," she said. "They come in at all hours -- we have some people who come in from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m." Many have worked 200 hours, 300 hours or more. One of the top veterans, Army Sgt. James Vielle of the 602nd Maintenance Company, has contributed more than 650 hours.

Volunteers come from every branch of military service, and a number of volunteers are Department of Defense civilians. Mike Zajicek conducts facility inspections for the 402nd Army Field Support Brigade Safety Office during the day but often spends his evenings at the PAD.

"I spent four years as a Marine infantryman," he said. He separated from the Marine Corps but continued to serve his nation through the Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., where he is now a test director. While here, he has contributed more than 300 volunteer hours.

"Volunteering here makes me feel like I'm part of the fight again," he said.

Volunteers who contribute more than 50 hours receive special passes to the hospital. These passes mark them as PAD "veterans" who can train volunteers and even help bring newly deployed PAD staff up to speed.

Many of them contribute in other ways, as well: Airman 1st Class Cory McKnight, a structures apprentice with the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, built three training platforms shortly after he arrived at Balad. The platforms simulate the loading racks for litters in the UH-60s. Having four of them instead of one has vastly increased the PAD staff's ability to train new volunteers.

Sergeant Pinkney held one such training class Oct. 22, teaching 33 new volunteers how to attach litters to gurneys and how to safely move around helicopters. The trainees used Airman McKnight's platforms to familiarize themselves with loading and unloading litters. Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Sanders, a visual information equipment operations and maintenance NCO with the 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), walked trainees through the processes step by step.

"When you wheel a patient into the ER and the PAD boss tells you, 'he made it,' you feel good inside," Sergeant Sanders said. "We don't go outside the wire, but we have brothers and sisters who do go out there, and we want to be here to take care of them if something happens."

Among the trainees was Senior Airman Zach Trosch, a security forces journeyman with the 532nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron here.

"I'm interested in cross-training into the medical field, but I want to volunteer here because I want to feel like I'm making a difference," said Airman Trosch, a native of Jackson, Ohio, who is deployed from Nellis AFB, Nev.

In addition to moving patients, PAD volunteers also keep Hero's Highway clean, make sure water is available for helicopter crews and wash litters after patients are transferred to the emergency room. Once those tasks are taken care of, volunteers can avail themselves of the hospital's morale room or dining facility or offer their services in other areas of the hospital.

While the PAD staff welcomes volunteers, Sergeant Pinkney cautioned that the job isn't for everybody.

"Some of the people who come here have pretty horrific injuries," she said. "If that's not your thing, that's fine. We also have small children come through sometimes. We don't want to put volunteers in a situation they're not comfortable dealing with."

However, people who want to find out more about how to be a PAD volunteer are welcome to attend training classes, Sergeant Pinkney said. The classes are held Mondays at 9 a.m. and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and are usually 60 to 90 minutes long.

"We have seven staff members in the PAD, and it takes four people to unload one litter from a helicopter," she said. "If we didn't have the volunteers ... we would suffer greatly -- we'd be scrambling.

"We're always looking for more volunteers," she said. "This is one of the most fulfilling volunteer opportunities anyone will ever have."

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