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Show AIR FORCE NEWS Hilltop Times March 16, 2006 Medics, volunteers meet Iraqis' medical needs BY STAFF-SGT, KEVIN NICHOLS . Central Command Air Forces News Team SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN)—Several times a week, medics from the 447th Expeditionary Medical Squadron take a break from their normal "hustle and bustle" work schedule at the clinic to help local Iraqfs who feel under the weather. The medics head out close to the wire to see these patients at the Radhwaniya Medical Clinic Outreach Program building. Tech. Sgt. Michelle Du Lac picked up her stethoscope to listen to a young boy's chest who hasn't been feeling too well lately. "Can you tell him to breathe hard again for me?" she asked the interpreter. The medical room she and the other medics see the children in is more like a small office stocked with some medical supplies and certain medicines. The building sits just inside the base perimeter fence. These are the days for the medics who can break away from the base's clinic that they look forward to. "I'm a better medic for being here," Sergeant Du Lac said. While the medics go in the back to prepare for more patients, volunteers like Staff Sgt. Brian Newton play football with the children waiting for their free checkup. "I love children," Sergeant Newton said, as he bounced up and down on one end of a seesaw in the backyard of the clinic building. This is his first time to the site. "I wanted to come out and give to the Iraqi community. I've wanted to do this since September of last year," said Sergeant Newton, who is deployed from the 100th Security Forces Squadron at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. He hopes by volunteering his time, the children will see him more as a person and less like an Airman at war. "This (volunteering) is more of a humanitarian mission than a war-time mission," Sergeant Newton said. "They can see us (Americans) as more humane than we're seen on the news." The risk that these Air Force doctors and volunteers take is considerable with the perimeter fence right behind the building where they care for the Iraqi patients. But they feel the benefits and caring they bring to the Iraqi community far outweigh that risk. "Say ahh!" Sergeant Du Lac takes a look at a child's throat; red and irritated. To this little boy, Sergeant Du Lac makes an impression with her tongue depressor, both as a military professional and someone who cares about his health and well being. During their little "break from the norm," Sergeant Du Lac Photo by Master Sgt. Lance Cheung and the other medics see about 20 to 30 patients a day while at Staff Sgt. Brian Newton (right) and Senior Airman Argenfs Sambois entertain children waiting to see a medic at the Radhwaniya Medical Clinic the same time providing a friendship that may just be the best Outreach Program. Several times a week, volunteers meet at the facility on the edge of the Baghdad International Airport area and support the medicine of all. medical needs of civilians. Keesler Airmen answer call for help BY.TECH, SGT. LARRY A. SIMMONS Air Force Print News KEESLER AFB, Miss. (AFPN) — After the devastation from Hurricane Katrina left the base and the surrounding area in dire straits, the community desperately needed help to recover. Airmen here have answered that call. "We were in crisis mode right after the hurricane trying to make sure people had the bare minimum to survive," said Maj. Teresa Roberts, director of the family support center. Since Hurricane Katrina, the center has logged more than 38,000 volunteer hours supporting all facets of the rebuilding effort. They are still handling about 10 requests per week by assisting in clearing hurricane debris and supporting programs by Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army. Major Roberts credits the overwhelming numbers of volunteers from Keesler for the success of their efforts not just on base, but in the surrounding communities as well. "Their hearts are so in it, we have people coming out on their down days to help. They just have the desire to do more and more," she said. Some of those volunteers include Airmen attending one of the technical training schools here. One of those volunteers, Airman Marcus Straughn, an aviator resource management trainee from Georgiana, Ala., said he is happy to be part of the recovery effort. "It all goes back to elementary school where I learned to do onto others as you would have them do to you," he said. "It gives me a warm feeling in my heart knowing I have been able to make a difference." With the recovery effort still going strong and volunteers still doing what they can to make a difference, Major Roberts summed up the process. U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Larry A. Simmons "Being a volunteer is being a part Airman Michael Kearny clears debris from a site designated to be a new Salvation of a winning team," she said. "As a Army center In Gulfport, Miss. Airmen from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., have community we are starting to relogged more than 38,000 volunteer hours since Hurricane Katrina. Airman Kearny build, but the need is going to be is a ground radar technician trainee with the 338th Training Squadron at Keesler here for a while." AFB. Dental residency program fills experience gap BY_STAFF_SGT._JE_R_EMY_LARL_EE 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs BARKSDALE AFB, La. (AFPN) —A dental residency program here teaches dentists career field specialties and how to serve in a deployed location. The advanced education in the general dentistry resident program is the only dentistry program in the Air Force that accepts dentists who have already served in the military for a few years. Col. (Dr.) Sal Flores is the commander of the 2nd Dental Squadron advanced education in general dentistry residency flight. The resident program is usually offered to midterm dentists, he said, but the career field is weighted heavily with senior and junior officers so the program has residents with a wide range of experience. The students come into the residency trained as general dentists. The course broadens their dental knowledge by training them in the various dental specialties. "Orthodontics, endodontics, prosthodontics and oral surgery dealing with facial bones are examples of some of the specialties we teach the residents," Doctor Flores said. A common misconception of dentistry is that it only involves teeth. "If it's between the lips and the throat, it belongs to us," Doctor Flores said. "We- do more than just teeth." Capt. (Dr.) Amy Aston, a resident in the program, thinks the program is a great way to learn the different dental specialties. "It is a pretty comfortable learning environment," Doctor Aston said. "We are mentored by wonderful specialists who are great in their fields and they guide us to perfect our processes." Learning the process of removing wisdom teeth is what Doctor Aston finds most useful in the program. Besides learning the specialties, a major component of the residency program is training to be a deployed dentist. Graduates from the program will be the dentists who U.S. Air Force photo Staff Sgt. Jeremy Larlee Capt. (Dr.) LIKuel Hung administers suction to a patient during an extraction recently, at Barksdale AFB, La. Doctor Hung Is assigned to the 2nd Dental Squadron. deploy from their bases in the rotation cycle. Learning the triage concept — seeing patients in the order of how urgently they need care — is an important part of the program's curriculum. Tuesday mornings the dental squadron specialists devote four hours to training residents on the latest developments in their fields. One of the challenges of performing dentistry in a deployed location is that, while functional, the equipment used there is made with mobility and efficiency in mind. An example of this is the chair used in deployed areas, which Doctor Flores explained is similar to a lawn chair. While the chair has three different positions, it is nowhere near as adaptable as a chair used at most stateside bases. Doctor Flores said he would like to outfit a room in the dental squadron with deployable dental equipment, so that he can simulate a deployed experience. Being a servicemember is not something a dentist takes lightly, Doctor Flores said. "We are not dentists. We are military officers who just happen to be dentists," he said. |