Photo By Airman 1st Class Camren Ray | A group of U.S. Air Force medical technicians, assigned to the Ohio National Guard’s...... read more read more
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Airmen from the Ohio National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing, traveled to Xenia, Ohio to participate in Guard Care, an event where medically trained Airmen provide free health care to community members at no cost.
The event, Greene County Guard Care, took place at the Greene County Career Center, August 11-12, 2024, and provided free health care for more than 1,000 community members.
Greene County Guard Care worked hand-in-hand with the Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program to gather supplies, funding and support.
The event was a joint effort between U.S. Air Force active duty and guard, U.S. Army active duty and guard and the U.S. Public Health Service.
Members of the 180FW provided a range of care from dental services, vitals, vaccines, registration check-in and escorting patients who needed a translator.
“An IRT can take place anywhere there is a great need for health care,” said Staff Sgt. Blayne Flickinger, an aerospace medical technician assigned to the 180FW. “It is awesome to be able to use my training to help Americans locally.”
Flickinger’s role in Guard Care involved operating the My Accessible Real Time Trusted Interpreter (MARTTI) system, provided to the IRT by Kettering Health, a system of medical centers, emergency center and outpatient facilities, to help with translations between families and medical providers whose first language wasn’t English.
“Being flexible and adaptive greatly helped because there were IT issues when we started and we had to identify them and work through them,” said Flickinger. “We also used alternative methods of translation, like cell phone translation apps, when we were having these IT issues.”
Interacting with the community is one key component in events like these, as these medical provides are the face of the military to the community members who attend.
“We are offering free health care to many people in the community that don’t have access to basic health care in their present situation, so for them to come takes courage and humility. That’s commendable,” said Lt. Col. Jennifer Durbin, a clinical nurse assigned to the 180FW. “I think the impact for the patients is also in knowing that we care and we are here to help them.”
The main goal of Guard Care is to provide the local community free health care while Airmen receive real world training in the field.
“Airmen become more comfortable and confident in their clinical skill as well as their ability to come together with Joint Forces to provide medical care,” said Durbin.
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2024 14:49 |
| Story ID: | 480707 |
| Location: | XENIA, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 135 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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