Photo By Capt. Emerson Marcus | Staff Sgt. Michelle Sapp, of the 355th Dental Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,...... read more read more
SAN VINCENTE, El Salvador - Hector Flores was simply going for an afternoon walk, nothing more.
But as the 35-year-old farmer passed the Salvadoran Army’s 5th Infantry Brigade Headquarters in San Vicente, his friend relayed him a useful message.
“Remember that toothache you had, Hector?” his friend asked. “You can get it fixed at infantry headquarters.”
As Flores walked into the military training facility, U.S. airmen from Barksdale Air Force Base were there ready to give dental care to anyone willing to ask for it. The humanitarian dental service, set to last two weeks, began Monday. It is part of Beyond the Horizon 2011, a 4-month-long, joint-service training exercise to provide humanitarian and civic assistance for the Salvadoran region most affected by Hurricane Ida in 2009.
Landslides that damaged large portions of San Vicente’s infrastructure further burdened a dental system struggling to aid a growing population. Primary dental care is free in El Salvador, but the price of care isn’t the problem. Salvadoran water lacks fluoride to help combat sugars that create cavities. The nation also only has one dentist for every 30,000 people, said Jose Ismail Alvarado, San Vicente’s orthodontics supervisor.
“This is a big problem here,” Alvarado said. “This program is great for this city because it really is going to help a large portion of people get care they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”
Twenty-eight airmen from around the United States volunteered for the effort: 12 dentists, 15 assistants, one laboratory technician and one bio-medical equipment technician. The personnel will assist Salvadoran citizens with cleanings, fillings, extractions, fluoride treatment, root canals and dental prosthetics.
“This exercise gives airmen a great chance to work with a host nation and experience what goes in to a short-term deployment,” said Lt. Col. Mike Webb, the Air Force commander for the exercise.
More than 200 first and second grade students of Centro Escolar Victoriano Rodriguez were the initial patients for the exercise Monday.
“This is something I really wanted to do,” said Senior Airman Misty Harris, of Aerospace Medical School at Beale Air Force Base in Marysville, Calif.
Harris received news about the exercise last year through an email seeking volunteers.
“I jumped on the opportunity right away,” Harris said. “To come here and have the chance to help people of a different culture really interested me.”
For San Vicente, the town most devastated by Hurricane Ida because of its position near hurricane-induced landslides, the help couldn’t have come at a better time. El Salvador only has 14 orthodontics departments to treat more than 6 million citizens.
Health care, especially dental care, is often neglected because of their inability to get care, Alvarado said.
The airmen deployed here for the exercise set a goal of treating 200 people per day for two weeks. On the first day here they served more than 300 people with dental care, which has them well on their way to exceeding the goal of 2,500 patients in two weeks.
The airmen will also provide training for Salvadoran soldiers so they can apply knowledge gained in the future.
“The people who have heard about the exercise are very excited to get the care,” Alvarado said. “This will really help out our city.”
| Date Taken: | 04.05.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2011 21:57 |
| Story ID: | 68322 |
| Location: | SAN VICENTE, SV |
| Web Views: | 253 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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