Courtesy Photo | NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Sicily (Aug. 22, 2024) Hospitalman Noah McDougle...... read more read more
NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Sicily (Oct. 22, 2024) – The safety of personnel and their families is a top priority for Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, and Preventative Medicine (PrevMed) at Naval Medical Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Sigonella plays a major role in ensuring that safety.
“I believe our [PrevMed Sailors] here in Sigonella deserve to be the Team in the Spotlight; a vast majority of their work occurs behind the scenes without any face-to-face interaction with those they serve,” said Lt. Cmdr. Robert Miller, prior PrevMed department head, NMRTC Sigonella.
PrevMed tests the installation’s water supply, inspects food facilities, conducts habitability assessments, tracks medical concerns and more.
“[PrevMed] is the first line of defense against health and safety issues for facilities supporting the active duty population, but also our most vulnerable populations at the Child Development Center, youth programs and DODEA (Department of Defense Education Activity Sigonella),” said Miller.
The team includes Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Travis Tackett, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Shaye Kavanagh, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Hannah Richard, and Hospitalman Noah McDougle. Each day they determine their workload, delegate jobs and perform needed inspections.
“I love doing inspections,” said McDougle. “I like that every day is something different.”
The team’s proudest moment was assisting in a flu shot exercise when Military Health Systems Genesis, an online program for medical record storage, was released at U.S. Naval Hospital Sigonella.
“Even with a new system, we were able to get everything running smoothly,” said Kavanaugh. “We were able to get everyone vaccinated while also navigating a brand-new medical system. Having everyone’s help during this evolution made it possible.”
Despite their vital importance to the health and wellness of Navy personnel and families, PrevMed is a severely undermanned community. Without the small team at Sigonella, meeting the 100% safety goal for all facilities would be very challenging, even if assigned safety managers follow the Navy’s strictest protocols.
“We make sure food facilities are keeping good sanitary practices,” said Kavanaugh. “We make sure service members are living in habitable conditions, and when things aren’t being met, we do everything we can to make sure that something [is] done about it.”
Kavanaugh also has some advice for future members of the team, “Fall back on your team members when you must. It’s okay not to know everything right away, and nobody will ever fault you for not having the answers. Everyone is here to help.”
U.S. Naval Hospital Sigonella ensures maximum readiness by providing high-quality, safe patient and family-centered care to maximize force health protection for all beneficiaries, to included NATO and transient DoD forces in the U.S. Fifth Fleet and U.S. Sixth Fleet areas of operation.
NAS Sigonella’s strategic location enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to deploy and respond as required, ensuring security and stability in Europe, Africa and Central Command. For more news and information from NAS Sigonella, visit https://cnreurafcent.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NAS-Sigonella/ or https://www.facebook.com/nassigonella/.
| Date Taken: | 10.22.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.22.2024 03:36 |
| Story ID: | 483531 |
| Location: | IT |
| Web Views: | 179 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Sigonella Team in the Spotlight – Preventative Medicine, by PO2 Kelsey Culbertson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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