Photo By Staff Sgt. James E. Brown | Northridge, Ca. native, Sgt. Elizabeth Chacon a healthcare specialist and a Soldier...... read more read more
By Staff Sgt. James E. Brown Jr.
1st Sustainment Brigade
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Sgt. Elizabeth Chacon is a Northridge, Calif. native, and medical specialist attached to the 1038th Horizontal Construction Company, 1st Squadron, 152nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Sustainment Brigade; and the last time she was at home with her family was in February 2007.
Back home, her job as a medical attendant with a private ambulance company out of Hollywood was filled with excitement. She would often ride in the back of the ambulance with patients as they were transported to the hospital, or she would stand by on the set of an independent movie or television show during filming just in case there was a medical emergency. At night, she would hang out in clubs around Hollywood, and even circuit parties that would last all night.
However, that fast-paced life changed dramatically once she was deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. She worked as a chemical operations specialist for the 1113th Transportation Company, and eventually became part of the company's supply section, where she was solely responsible for maintaining all the combat lifesaver bags.
Once the mission was complete and it was time to come home, Chacon volunteered to extend, but on one condition – she would get to work in her primary military occupational skill as a healthcare specialist or medic.
"It boils down to the fact that I wanted to be deployed and actually do what I'm passionate about. I love being a medic and hope to advance in the medical field. I'll also admit that aside from the fact that I love my job, I'm hoping to save up some extra money for school and to hopefully buy a house when I get home," said Chacon.
One of her most significant assignments, besides being a healthcare specialist, is that she gets tasked out to go on Deliberate Combat Logistics Patrols and serve as the convoy medic. So far, she has completed nine different missions and traveled to various military camps around Iraq.
"I basically roll out with a gun truck crew as the convoy medic. If anything happens on the road, it is my responsibility to respond and provide medical attention. If my guys have any small gripes or complaints that I can treat, then I do and if not, I'll assess how serious it is and advise them as what to do next, whether it is go to the [Troop Medical Clinic] wherever we are or to just wait until we get back to Taji to get checked out," Chacon stated.
Not long after extending, she was moved to Camp Taji and assigned to the Easy Red Troop Medical Clinic, where she does a variety of different jobs. In the screening rooms, she takes vitals such as blood pressure, temperature, and pulse and also annotates the reason for the patients' visit before they are seen by the military physicians.
At the pharmacy, Chacon fills prescriptions according to whatever the doctors prescribe. This task involves creating the label and counting out pills or tablets to ensure patients get the proper amount of medicine.
When assigned to the treatment rooms, she assists the physicians in whatever they may need such as giving a hand with stitches, changing dressings, giving shots, and performing blood draws.
Chacon also gets supplies that the physicians may need or she will just watch how they examine patients in order to learn. These are only a few different areas within the Troop Medical Clinic that Chacon works in on occasion.
She stands as a bona fide, true role model that absolutely loves her military job and shows her devotion to the U.S. Army every day. After 16 months of being deployed, she is still charging hard and is even looking for another possible deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.25.2008 12:22 |
| Story ID: | 25554 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 369 |
| Downloads: | 300 |
This work, Still charging hard , by SSG James E. Brown, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
