Photo By Flavia Hulsey | U.S. Army Col. Takako “Lei” Barrell, director, Critical Care Services, Tripler...... read more read more
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia -- Nursing and medical logisticians from the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force met with counterparts form the Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) June 5 to 9 at the Military Medical Center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to share knowledge and conduct hands-on training during a Nursing and Medical Logistics Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) between the two nations.
“Our work and our partnership with the Mongolian Armed Forces and the Mongolian Ministry of Defense is definitely strengthened by events like the SMEE,” said U.S. Army Maj. Donald Ingrim, officer in charge of the SMEE, and G-8, 18th Medical Command (Deployment Support). “We’ve had the opportunity to meet numerous individuals in leadership positions in the hospital, the head nurses and the biomedical technicians. Building that relationship in between our medical professionals and their medical professionals is what these engagements are all about.”
The SMEE has taken place since 2010. It is one example of U.S. and Mongolian military cooperation. This year represents the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two counties.
This mission was accomplished while working jointly with partners from the Regional Health Command-Pacific (RHC-P), U.S Army Pacific (USARPAC) and U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM).
Medical diplomacy through global health engagements such as the SMEE support the Chief of Staff of the Army's top priority: Readiness, Ingrim said. The SMEE also supports the Army Surgeon General's priority of providing a medically ready and ready medical force.
“This kind of partnership is a pinnacle of how we do medical engagements,” Ingrim said. “We look at global health engagements as medical diplomacy. It’s relationship building with these partnership nations to achieve military-to-military contact. At the very lowest, I think it builds individual relationships. But at a strategic level, it builds broader country-to-country relationships.”
Ingrim noted that for U.S. armed forces participants, understanding how health care in the Asian continent, especially within central Asia, and understanding how the Mongolian health care system interplays with other nations was particularly impactful.
“To be able to put together the whole picture of the theater and what we’re looking at – what are some of the strengths of some of these medical forces and their medical facilities, how it is all connected to the greater health care system in the Pacific was important to learn,” Ingrim said.
Leading Sgt. Bayasgalan Olonbayar, Military Medical Center of Mongolia, said he also believed the SMEE was a success.
“I really hope that you have better understanding of our hospital and the way our hospitals run,” Bayasgalan said. “So if there’s any chance we work together in the future, you would understand how we do our jobs. This is helpful for our future cooperation.”
Meanwhile, members of the U.S. team shared technical, hands-on information on nursing topics such as nursing leadership, caring for intoxicated patients, caring for suicidal patients, palliative care, and emergency care – first aid, triage, trauma and treatment, and logistics topics, specific to biomedical equipment technicians, such as biomedical equipment management, preventive maintenance and operator maintenance.
Previous programs have helped our departments tremendously,” Bayasgalan said, adding every year the teams gain new knowledge and learns new skills for the hospital and battlefield.
“We are really appreciative of the program. Every time, we learn more and more. I hope we continue to build on this,” he said.
A second SMEE will take place this year between the two nations in September in Ulaanbaatar.
Members of the U.S. delegation who participated were from Army, Air Force and Navy units, including RHC-P, Tripler Army Medical Center; 18th MEDCOM; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; 36th Medical Group, Guam; and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.07.2017 14:08 |
| Story ID: | 240175 |
| Location: | ULAANBAATAR, MN |
| Web Views: | 153 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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