Air Force medical team supports humanitarian effort

Published Jan. 5, 2006
By 1st Lt. Erick Saks
818th CRG/24th AEG Public Affairs

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AMCNS) -- As U.S. and international teams continue to provide humanitarian aid and medical assistance here following the country’s recent 7.6 magnitude earthquake, an Air Force medical team is standing watch over the responders looking out for their health and their ability to continue the mission.

Shortly after humanitarian relief operations began, the 818th Contingency Response Group/24th Air Expeditionary Group Air Transportable Clinic was formed at Chaklala Air Base to provide medical care and preventive medical assistance to those involved with the effort, said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Vince Santangelo, clinic commander.

Each of the clinic members was deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of operations at the time of the earthquake and answered the call for volunteers to support the mission in Pakistan.

“They asked me if I’d be interested in a short-notice deployment to Pakistan to help with the relief efforts,” said Dr. Santangelo, a flight surgeon who was deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq. “I saw it as an exciting opportunity to help our troops.”

The medical team also includes Master Sgt. Luis Valladares, an independent duty medical technician who was deployed to Al Udeid, Qatar, and Staff Sgt. Bridget Fitzsimmons, a medical technician who was deployed to Kirkuk, Iraq.

“For me, this is an ideal situation because this is exactly what we’re trained to do as IDMTs,” said Sergeant Valladares, whose home unit is the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. “We’re trained to go out in the field and provide medical care independently. So when I heard about the earthquake and the opportunity to come here to help, I said ‘send me.’”

Upon arrival in Pakistan, the team faced numerous challenges.

“We’re in field conditions, so you have people living in tents in a dusty, dirty and dry environment,” said Dr. Santangelo, whose home unit is the 177th Fighter Wing in Atlantic City, N.J. “When we arrived, we worked with the preventative medicine personnel to evaluate the camp to see what improvements we could make to ensure the health of the people living here. We also opened the clinic which offers service 24 hours a day to care for people on all shifts.”

The majority of the clinic’s patients are those with conditions resulting from the environment here, according to the doctor.

“We’ve seen a lot of people with upper respiratory infections, sore throats, sinus congestion and headaches,” said Dr. Santangelo. “We’ve also had a few injuries such as a crush injury to the hand of a British military person while moving cargo. We had another person with an injury to his finger which was serious enough to be evacuated by air the following day. Most of the injuries are due to moving heavy cargo or setting up the camp.”

As part of their mission, the doctor and his staff also developed relationships with the Pakistani medical personnel and local medical facility staffs.

“Just yesterday, I personally escorted the surgeon general of Pakistan and numerous high-level hospital commanders on a fact-finding mission to the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Muzaffarabad – the epicenter of the earthquake,” said the doctor. “The visit was specifically for the purpose of evaluating their capabilities and seeing what the host nation could provide to better care for the local population coming to the MASH.”

The clinic members said they’ve enjoyed their experience in Pakistan, and are grateful for the opportunity to help.

“It’s really a humbling experience when you take a helicopter flight up to the affected areas and you see how these people are living,” said Sergeant Fitzsimmons, whose home unit is the 108th Air Refueling Wing at McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. “It really puts things into perspective.”

“This has been a great experience, which has been incredibly rewarding,” Dr. Santangelo added. “I really cherish the relationship we’ve developed with the host nation. I know that I can call them anytime – day or night – to get help for our personnel.”