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Makhmur Medcap

Courtesy Photo | Capt. Angelita Moore, brigade surgeon, 101st Sustainment Brigade, examines a patient's...... read more read more

IRAQ

12.05.2005

Courtesy Story

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SGT RACHEL BRUNE
101ST SUSTAINMENT BDE
5 DECEMBER 2005

MAKHMŪR, Iraq -- Coalition medical personnel conducted a medical civil action program, or MEDCAP, with medics from the Iraqi Army 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division here Dec. 5.

Capt. A. Michelle Moore, brigade surgeon, 101st Sustainment Brigade, and Capt. Charles Roberts, physicians assistant, 172nd Brigade Support Battalion, led the team examining, diagnosing, medically treating and advising family members of the Iraqi soldiers.

At the initial screening station, combat medics from the Brigade Support Medical Company, 172nd BSB, from Fort Wainwright, Alaska, obtained patients' vital signs such as pulse, temperature and blood pressure.

"If it's something simple, we can take care of it," said Spc. Michael Crittenden, BSMC combat medic from Tiverton, R.I.

The combat medics tested for diabetes with an over-the-counter blood sugar test.

"We also hand out toys to the kids," said Spc. Jesse Valerio, BSMC combat medic from Hurley, N.M.

The medics interviewed each patient, with the help of an interpreter, for medical history and previous treatments and noted his or her complaint on a small slip of paper.

"We write a basic note for the docs so they can begin right away," said Sgt. Courtney Berry, BSMC combat medic from Highland, Mich.

At the next station, Moore and Roberts examined the patients, reviewing the medical history if available, reviewing X-rays and prescribing and distributing medications.

"We're not just an offensive force," said Sgt. Brian Hawthorne, a civil affairs sergeant with Company A, 401st Civil Affairs Battalion. "We're also a sustaining force."

One of Moore's first patients was a young boy, paralyzed, with ulcers on his lower back. Moore, who is from Seffner, Fla., treated the boy, advising the family on various aspects of care.

With the help of an interpreter, Moore also explained the situation to local tribal leaders who attended the MEDCAP. The tribal leaders have the ability to mobilize the community and get additional help for the family, explained Hawthorne.

Master Sgt. James Townsend, 101st Sustainment Brigade medical operations NCOIC from Lake City, Fla., assisted Moore distributing medication and gathering equipment.

Nestled in the foothills east of the Tigris River, the Iraqi outpost is known as FOB Crazy Horse to the small American liaison team permanently stationed there.

The Iraqi medics, also known as "Blue Shirts" because of their distinctive uniforms, attended the MEDCAP to gain more experience, according to Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Kearney, Special Forces medic, from Rockaway Point, N.Y.

With fellow Special Forces medic, Sgt. Justin Kirschner, from Bark River, Mich., Kearney trained the Blue Shirts in medical tasks such as trauma assessment and beginning an intravenous drip.

"We gave them a week of anatomy and physiology," said Kearney. "[The training was] pretty similar to what a combat lifesaver in the Army would get."

The two medics are from 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The Blue Shirts assigned to 3rd Bn. conduct the battalion sick call, said Kearney. Some of the Iraqi medics who successfully completed the course became trainers themselves and teach the material to new classes.

The liaison team hopes to create a medical platoon for the battalion, said Kearney.

Coalition forces conducted a MEDCAP for each battalion in the brigade, according to Hawthorne, who as a civilian is an emergency medical technician. The 401st is a Reserve unit from Webster, N.Y.

As the day continued, the medical personnel saw patients with everything from spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal canal, to back fractures, eye problems and clubfoot, according to Roberts, who is from North Pole, Alaska.

In America, many of the conditions would have been corrected at birth, said Roberts. Still, he and Moore did what they could for the patients they saw.

"Our purpose here is to hopefully forge good relations and to work with the Iraqi [medical] providers here," said Roberts.

Now that Iraqi medics have begun to provide care to their fellow soldiers and train others in their skills, the next challenge is developing a re-supply process, according to Staff Sgt. Stephen Soza, BSMC combat medic from Bakersfield, Calif.

"My soldiers are working hard, fighting the terrorists," said Lt. Col. Dosky, 3rd Bn. executive officer. Dosky is a graduate of the prestigious Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, in Surrey, England, from which his father also graduated.

Dosky invited the American personnel for lunch, which consisted of warm flatbread, couscous with beef and vegetable soup.

"I think the Iraqi people deserve to live a good life because of what they suffered under Saddam Hussein," said Dosky. "They want to live in peace."