Resolute medic provides helping hand

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Jo Bridgwater | The USNS Comfort anchored just of the Haitian coast Feb. 11. Spc. Chad Parrish, a 32-year-old healthcare specialist, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 7th Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), traveled to the Comfort with the mission of checking the status of a Soldier in his unit who was recovering from an injury.  

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

02.14.2010

Courtesy Story

3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command

HAITI - Spc. Chad Parrish, a medic assigned to Fort Eustis's 7th Sustainment Brigade recently had the opportunity to not only provide assistance to Haitian patients, but also meet a world-renown doctor.

Parrish, a 32-year-old healthcare specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 7th Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), boarded the USNS Comfort, Feb. 11, with the mission of checking the status of a Soldier in his unit who was recovering from an injury. Once on board the vessel Parrish got quite the surprise. Doctor Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, happened to be visiting the Comfort at the same time.

"I was standing on the vessel when he turned to me and asked me my name and how long I'd been in the Army and what it is that I did," said Parrish. "Gupta said to me 'That's great, what is your mission here in Haiti?' I told him that we were here to help the people of Haiti."


In the heat of the Noon-time sun Parrish and Gupta held a brief conversation on what they observed needed to be done for the people of Haiti. Parrish's concern for the local population had quite the affect for Gupta.

"He asked me if I wanted to help escort some Haitian patients from the Comfort to the Emergency Medical Triage Station on White Beach," explained Parrish. "Once I got the approval to assist Dr. Gupta we escorted five Haitian patients to White Beach and prepped them [providing them with personal hygiene items and fresh drinking water] to be released back to their home and families in Port au Prince."

The experience of working side-by-side, though briefly, with a physician of such stature left this Army medic humbled.

"Meeting Dr. Gupta and helping him provide aid to the people of Haiti made my mission more worthwhile, it made me feel accomplished," said Parrish.

Approximately 1,100 Soldiers assigned to the 7th Sustainment Brigade are in Haiti in support of Operation Unified Response. The Resolute Warriors of the 7th Sustainment Brigade are based at Fort Eustis, Va., the home of Army Transportation, 'Nothing Happens Until Something Moves.'

Photos and story by Sgt. 1st Class Kelly Bridgwater, 7th Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs. For queries, contact 7th Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs at [phone], ext 268. For high-resolution photos and stories by the 7th Sustainment Brigade please contact the Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System at [phone] or online at http://www.dvidshub.net/units/3sce.

• Date Taken: 02.14.2010
• Date Posted: 02.14.2010 20:32
• Story ID: 45349
• Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HT