Photo By Airman Belinda Guachun-Chichay | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Mongeriq Barron, 56th Medical Group immunization technician,...... read more read more
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LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. – The 56th Medical Group conducted a point of dispensing exercise Oct. 9 to 11, 2024, at the Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.
The exercise aimed to enhance the health and readiness of personnel by providing Airmen easy access to flu vaccinations, crucial for preventing influenza and its related health complications, while also ensuring the 56th MDG’s ability to execute operations effectively on short notice.
U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Roscoe Mayes, 56th Fighter Wing Inspector General, played an important role in overseeing and evaluating the POD.
“The objective for the first day was to ensure that all tier 1 personnel received their vaccinations," Mayes explained. “Each exercise is designed with specific goals in mind, following the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) criteria. Our aim was to effectively implement the disease containment plan, which is why we established the POD.”
U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Robert Tolchiner, 56th Medical Support Squadron medical readiness flight commander and medical emergency manager, served as the lead evaluator for the wing inspection team while providing strategic support to leadership and disaster response teams. His insights were key in assessing the team’s ability to set up the vaccination POD swiftly.
“We examined how effectively we brought people to the POD,” Tolchiner explained. “We also evaluated how smoothly we moved them through the process. Our goal was to ensure we met our objectives for efficiently executing mass prophylaxis.”
Tolchiner had four goals to fulfill: personnel recall and mobilization, speed and efficiency of the POD setup, vaccination flow rate, and the total number of vaccinations administered during the exercise.
“Our leadership did a phenomenal job communicating with other leaders across the base to facilitate getting members to the POD,” Tolchiner said. “They coordinated efforts to ensure everyone received the message, whether through command post notifications or squadron leadership. This demonstrated the collaboration among these leaders within the wing, enabling us to execute the setup on short notice.”
Instead of the initial two-hour time limit to set up the POD, the team completed the setup in just one hour and three minutes, significantly exceeding their goal.
“In terms of flow rate, we initially aimed to vaccinate 100 people per hour,” Tolchiner said. “Our highest recorded hour reached over 170 people.”
The total number of vaccinations administered surpassed 2,800 active-duty military members over the course of two and a half days.
“With 67% of our active duty vaccinated during the POD, Luke is leading the way as No. 1 across the major command,” Tolchiner affirmed. “We more than doubled the amount given by any other military treatment facility within Air Education and Training Command.” For these efforts, three members were coined by Col. Lashika Sneed, MDG deputy commander, for superior performance.
Capt. Tyler Culleton, team chief for the medical control center, acted as the communications liaison between operations at the POD and medical command. Master Sgt. Joshua Frazer, Public Health evaluator, navigated real-world situations to ensure all criteria were met to execute a POD. Staff Sgt. Kapries Chaplin, onsite POD manager, was critical to operational success throughout the event.
Luke AFB remains dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for its personnel. By prioritizing health, the base ensures that Airmen are mission-ready, contributing to a stronger and healthier force.
| Date Taken: | 10.18.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.22.2024 14:04 |
| Story ID: | 483671 |
| Location: | PHOENIX, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Luke Air Force Base
Medical Training
Arizona
