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UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY – Members of the 378th Expeditionary Medical Squadron have fostered a link with host nation medical facilities to expand critical patient care pathways for deployed Airmen.
Typically, Airmen in need of critical medical care, where every moment matters, are loaded onto a cargo aircraft with other patients and evacuated out of the operational theater to reach the required level of care.
By establishing a relationship with host nation medical facilities, the Airmen of the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing will now have access to a state-of-the-art healthcare system for critical and routine patient care.
"One of the unique things about medicine is that we're focused on healing, making us natural bridge builders," said the 378th EMDS lead coordinator. "When working with host nation medical facilities, we can do it through patient care collaboratively."
The cooperation between the medical squadron and host nation hospitals is essential when resources are limited.
"We need to lean on our host nation since we can only provide a certain extent of patient care due to the limited available resources, such as staffing, equipment and capability," said the lead coordinator.
While relying on the host nation's healthcare system will greatly enhance the care available to deployed Airmen, ensuring Airmen could utilize the resources required navigating many complex hurdles.
"The distinct challenge we faced was that they wanted our business, but they'd prefer to bill us instead of TRICARE, which is a relationship we can't have," said the 378th EMDS logistics coordinator. "We needed to pivot to understand our partners better and rely more on the health care system overall versus trying to fight it."
These new partnerships enable patients to receive faster, higher-quality care because, if required, the host nation hospitals can feed into higher levels of care seamlessly.
"Deepening and maintaining this relationship over time will be essential to pass onto new rotations moving in, so we can continue to leverage the relationship to provide the best care for our Airmen," said the lead coordinator.
Cultivating relationships with the host nation healthcare system will guarantee the readiness and well-being of deployed Airmen, enabling mission success.
"Our medical team works tirelessly to ensure the health and readiness of our force,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Seth Spanier, 378th AEW commander. “Getting off base and building those relationships with local hospitals multiplies our capabilities while continuing to strengthen an important partnership with our host nation.”
| Date Taken: | 08.09.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2024 08:42 |
| Story ID: | 478180 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 180 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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