Photo By Julian Hernandez | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jocelyn Raymundo Grinstead (center), 433rd Medical Squadron...... read more read more
A six member team from the 433rd Medical Squadron embedded with the operating room staff and surgeons at Joseph N. France General Hospital as part of the Lesser Antilles Medical Assistance Team (LAMAT) 2025, March 27, 2025.
The team collaborated with the Kittitian surgical team to perform as many as 10 to 12 procedures a day depending on the needs of the hospital. Procedures ranged from scheduled surgical interventions such as hernia repairs and biopsies, to emergency care such as a C-section birth.
Members of the LAMAT 25 team noted that while the Kittitian operating room has many differences and constraints when compared to a U.S. equivalent, the local providers and staff find innovative ways to deliver the necessary care.
“I’ve never seen an operating room with so little equipment, and I’ve been in this career field 10 years," said Tech. Sgt. Jocelyn Raymundo-Grinstead, a 433rd Medical Squadron medical technician. "The Kittitian team prides themselves on their sterility success rate, and the reason they have these procedures is because it works for them."
"I’m honestly very impressed to see them work," Raymundo-Grinstead said. "Everyone works as a team. They are doing many of the same things, but with very limited resources and there is a specific procedure for everything.”
Working with these resourceful professionals, 433rd MDS Citizen Airmen learned valuable lessons about alternative ways to approach the myriad of challenges that can present themselves in connection with a surgical intervention.
"Their equipment might not be the newest or most technologically advanced but it works and they can do the same job we do in the States,' said Maj. Albert Scott, a 433rd MDS certified registered nurse anesthetist. "A lot of it comes down to what you have access to and what you can afford."
"What they’re doing is just different than how we do it because they have to be more resourceful," Scott added. "But it works... I don’t see anything that says our way is better or anything. Both ways are safe… I’d say all the concepts are similar."
For the Kittitian staff and surgeons, the opportunity to work alongside Air Force Reserve medical personnel has enabled a high level of knowledge exchange, strengthening their capabilities beyond the duration of the LAMAT 25 mission.
“Here the general surgeons see every case," said Dr. Natalie Osborne, a Kittitian surgeon who worked with the 433rd MDS surgical. "The purpose of this mission is for our team to be strengthened when you are not here."
"I think a lot more educational settings like this one would get us to a better situation," Osborne added. “Everything comes back to eduction and sometimes that is where we falter here. Because we don’t always have the time or resources for continuing education, so that's why we can appreciate and benefit from a lot these teams like LAMAT."
| Date Taken: | 03.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.11.2025 13:49 |
| Story ID: | 495117 |
| Location: | KN |
| Web Views: | 64 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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