Medical officer sees other side of care after injury

Published Feb. 1, 2012
By Staff Sgt. Stephenie Wade
375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- In Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, where East meets West in a struggle to defeat the Taliban, lies an air base that's home to 30,000 service members tasked with the job of assisting NATO and Afghans in gaining and maintaining security.

During 2011 alone, more than 400 U.S. service members died and more than 700 sustained injuries as a result of terrorist operations. So, it was no surprise for Maj. George Zaldivar, 50, the officer in charge of logistics with the 375th Aeromedical Support Squadron here, to arrive in country to find his skills were in high demand.

Twenty-seven years ago Zaldivar joined the U.S. Navy as a corpsman, the only job they had available for him at the time.

"When I joined the military, I never dreamed I would progress this far; everyone put me down," he said. "The more I stayed in, the greater the passion for my job grew, and I took advantage of the tuition assistance to get my education."

He tried to deploy as a corpsman; however, he ended up working stateside for the majority of his 16 years in the Navy. Then he heard about the Air Force commissioning program. In 2000, he left the Navy and joined the Air Force Medical Service Corps with a bachelor's degree in healthcare management and a master's degree in human resource management. From that point on, he went from being a health care provider to hospital administration.

He still had one important thought on his mind: "How do I deploy and provide support to the military members down range?"

Today, after "crossing into the blue," Zaldivar has deployed four times and provided medical care worldwide, contributing to a 98 percent survival rate of deployed service members. On his latest deployment at Kandahar Airfield, he served as the director of operations for the Aeromedical Evacuation Operations Team. That job put him in charge of 40 people and 5,000 pounds of equipment.

"But I never thought I would be the one who needed help from my comrades," Zaldivar said. "It is just not something you think about; instead I focused on the mission."

In the three months he was at Kandahar Airfield, he endured numerous rocket attacks in the area he worked -- a seemingly common occurrence cautiously dismissed when the rockets missed their targets. But, on the night of Oct. 18, 2011, rocket number 54 landed smack dab on the door step of his medical facility and exploded with brute force.

"It hit without warning," Zaldivar said. "My adrenaline was pumping, but I was trying to stay calm and collected."

He's alive today because, luckily, the rocket landed five feet from a fuel tank. If the tank had ignited, it would have blown up the entire facility. In another stroke of luck, the medical facility was empty of patients; however, there were still consequences from that attack, including injuries to both himself and his co-worker.

Dazed by the blast, Zaldivar scrambled to direct care for his injured co-worker and to help direct the extinguishing of the fire to prevent another explosion.

"The attack shut down all command and control of our facility," Zaldivar said. "I delegated care and ensured accountability of my team, which was my priority at the time. I then did an assessment of the damage and calculated logistically what we needed for the incoming patients, who were less than an hour out."

Zaldivar and his team established a command and control at another location and transported equipment, allowing incoming patients to receive the proper care. Unfortunately, since he was still in shock from the blast, it wasn't until the following day that Zaldivar felt the impact of the attack on himself.

"The following days afterward, I couldn't sleep or concentrate at work," the major said. "On top of it I had really bad headaches, which made me nauseous, and my speech was slurred."

After neurological tests with the new base MRI machine, the doctors determined Zaldivar had a traumatic brain injury.

"Individually, it was hard for me to realize at first that something was wrong, but what other people see can be different," he said.

Zaldivar tried to work through it, but the wingman concept saved him.

"That's why the wingman concept is so important," he said. "If you know your people, you can see the signs of a change in their personality and be able to motivate them to get help. Don't be afraid to step in and say, 'Get evaluated.'"

"I wanted to stay and work, but my commander, who knew me prior to the attack very well, saw a difference in me," Zaldivar continued. "My commander told me that only if I believed in my heart I could give 100 percent, then I could stay."

He realized it was time to go back home for treatment, he added. Zaldivar sought medical attention from those with whom he deployed, who in turn helped him return home to recover from his injuries. He flew from Kandahar Airfield back to Scott Air Force Base for treatment.

"The way back was a difficult experience because, in my career field, I see the external injuries, the carnage and blood on a daily basis, but with a TBI there aren't any," he said.
"I felt like I didn't deserve the same care those patients on the aircraft were receiving; I don't look injured. The (aeromedical evacuation) individuals treated everyone on the flight home equally."

"It made me feel honored to have been deployed and to stand side-by-side with our comrades who are still out there fighting that war," the major said. "The (aeromedical evacuation team) I knew was outstanding, but coming home I realize the care and compassion that my own (aeromedical evacuation) teams provide."

Since his arrival home, Zaldivar has been able to gain perspective from the other side of his job. He continues to receive medical care and neurological tests from the 375th Medical Group and a hospital off base.

"It's really hard to explain symptoms you don't see when you can't think clearly or talk without slurring," he said. "Being in the medical career field, I knew the effects of an attack, but I never experienced it before. My treatment consists of me going through many physiological and neurological tests to compare results."

"TBI is such a newly addressed field in medicine," Zaldivar said. "Once I get well, I hope to stress the importance of educating leadership and the military about TBI so they can provide the troops returning home with better care."

The major currently has orders to Eglin AFB, Fla., but due to his recovery he is awaiting future results from a medical board to determine if he is still fit for duty.

"I feel very proud to have worked with my (aeromedical evacuation) counterparts and I will return, I will get better," Zaldivar said. "Because being in the (aeromedical evacuation field), taking care of our troops down range, and getting them to a place where they receive care is the most rewarding and satisfying job in the Air Force."

On Jan. 10, the major was presented the Purple Heart by Gen. Raymond Johns Jr., commander of Air Mobility Command, for the injuries he received during the attack.

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