Photo By Spc. Elvyn Nieves | A refurbished building opened its doors, March 27, which provides the medical...... read more read more
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By Spc. Elvyn Nieves
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Charlie Med Soldiers are operating out of a newly refurbished warehouse at Camp Taji's Striker Village that will help them to better serve their patients.
Building 1245 went through a 90-day transformation, where it morphed from an abandoned warehouse to a medical facility capable of providing professional care for Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers as well as others needing treatment.
The building was thoroughly sanitized to implement the renovation process. The crew refurbishing the building then rewired the electricity and repaired the concrete floors. In less than two months, rooms and walls were built and gave shape to the new building.
Moving from tents – where the aid station was – to an actual building has many advantages.
"The most important advantage is sanitary conditions," said Capt. Johnpaul Kelly, a New York City native, who serves as commander in Company C, 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Kelly said when the medical facility gets patients with open wounds they have to immediately focus on infection control. When you're in a tent, there's no way to control that.
"In a tent, you have so many different openings for dust and bacteria to get in," said Kelly. "In the building, the doors have a rubber piece at the bottom to help us fight the dust. The other thing is that you can't sanitize a tent's floor. Now we have a floor to sanitize."
Patients sometimes don't have the ability to regulate their own body temperature. In case of a fever, they have to be cooled down. If they are hypothermic, they need to warm up. The constant temperature inside the building allows the medical staff to control the temperature better than in a tent, said Kelly.
"During the summer, it's going to be 135 degrees outside and, even with all the air conditioning inside the tent, it's going to be 135 degrees too," said Kelly. "This is one way of raising the standards to show we care for them."
Another advantage the new facility provides is protection from changing weather conditions.
"The fixed facility gives us the ability not to be exposed to the elements," said Staff Sgt. Timothy Matz, a Crestview, Fla., native, who serves as treatment platoon sergeant in Co. C. "In a tent, eventually it starts leaking when it rains. In the new building, we don't have to worry about that or the wind. It's a clean environment."
Charlie Med has dental, lab, X-ray, preventive medicine, preventive health and medical maintenance. Its mission is to provide Level-2 medical support to the Striker Brigade and its subordinate units.
"We've been operating in tents for almost two months," said Matz. "Before this, we were operating in chemical biological protective shelters. This new building is something Soldiers can be proud of. It shows division cares enough to spend the money and give us a fixed facility."
| Date Taken: | 03.28.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2008 13:45 |
| Story ID: | 17858 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 273 |
| Downloads: | 264 |
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