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Show Page 19 Not ember 21. HILL TOP TIMES 197) rV 'tains'- - i- i r By Capt Cal Andrus USAF Reserve Dawn split open in a jagged orange line vAe re distant bills touched the sky at the edge of the Great Salt Lake desert. A plume of dust billowed behind our sedan as we drove southeasterly toward the Goshute Indian Reservation. For the fifth time in as many years, members of the 508th Tactical Clinic (Air Force Reserve) were enroute to a remote Utah community to administer a battery of medical tests and physical examinations to native Americans. For SMSgL Hyrum Bates, the yammer of rattling windows and thumping tires was familiar enough. This was his third trip to Ibapah in the last 60 days. As he drove, the grey road dipped back into the inky shadows between sandstone bluffs. There were 30 miles to go, yet the Deep Creek Mountains loomed to the south. The 12,000 foot ridge line was just catching the first rays of the sun. Several weeks earlier, he had talked with the health coordinator at the Reservation to confirm the availability of the Goshute Tribal Council Building. buff-color- ed Augmented by McChord unit Initial contact had established feasibility of the field training exercise for nine members of the 508th Tactical Clinic at Hill and five augmenting members of the 40th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from McChord AFB, Wash. Trailing well behind his GSA sedan were the headlights of two other vehicles carrying other members of the team nurses, medical and dental technicians, and support personnel. Yesterday they had driven due west from Salt Lake City, 120 miles to Wend over, a duster of motels, gas stations and casinos nestled at the fringe of the chalk-whit-e expanse called the "Salt Flats." Suddenly, his sedan was on asphalt It almost felt like the engine bad quit Moments h later the rabbit brush, sage and Pinyon pine scattered and gave way to fields vehicles ranches. As each of the other pulled into the gravel lot in front of the tribal building, a spacious, modern structure in the heart of the reservation, Hy noticed the bite in 28 degrees. Sweaters and jackets the air went on. The team hurried the diagnostic equipment inside, and moments after a steady line of Goshute completion of set-uwere moving orderly from one youngsters station to the next. A: Medical histories Important physicians administered medical examinations. At each step in the process, information was carefully noted in multicolored medical folders. Over the next four days, the scene was to be repeated with minor variations 500 miles away at Oljata and Mexican Hat. Since 1974, more than 3,000 residents of remote areas in the state had received thorough medical screenings from the team of Reservists. Scores of cases of congenital hip dislocations, dental and peridontal diabetes, and miscellaneous metabolic diseases had been and glandular as a result of the screenings. diagnosed disease, Project Navafo was beginning Actually, the 508th involvement with the remote Southeast of the state ranged back into the 50's when the unit flew Globe masters into the area to ferry Christmas gifts to Navajo children. The medical involvement was a fairly recent development spawned from a community service project carried out by the clinic in Ogden's central city area. So impressed with the outcome of the venture, the Navajo C-1-24 7 . V -- It - :f A test as Wood hemoglobin part That hurt, a child toys attar submitting to a to the visit annual their Forco during Reserve) Clinic (Air recent 508th Tactical Indian Reservation. (U.S. Air Force Photo) t V Development Council invited the team to work with them in screening youngsters from distant parts of the Navajo Reservation. In only four years, the team had been partially responsible for saving more than a dozen people from possible premature death and disfigurement from serious disease. By 1978, the annual tour into distant parts of the state had become an established tradition with the 508th. The cost of deployment largely offset by the increase in realism and the incalculable advantages of preventative medicine. Early diagnosis helps Despite advances in communication and ' transportation, community health officers in distant parts of the state are fighting a continual battle against greater medical costs, rising transportation expenses and a steadily growing population. Repeated involvement by the 508th Tactical Clinic demonstrated marked benefits. Residents identified with symptoms usually children of prevalent diseases and health problems could be referred for additional diagnostic before additional Over the years, civilian physicians and dentists have joined ranks with the 508th in working with residents of the distant desert communities. Doctors Jim Jacks and Kerry Patterson, both of Ogden, joined flight surgeon and clinic commander Don Bryan in conducting physicals during the 1979 tour of duty. f T "It's a lot of work. At the end of five days on the road, and three or four hundred physical work-up- s' in the distant corners of the state, you know you've had a real tour. But I ! suppose that's what I like about it. I can really get into it. I especially like working with the kids on the reservations," Bates grinned. It goos Boop, boop I can hear Iff f can hear Iff exclaims on of the children being checked for hooting as pari of tho 308th Tactical Clinic (Reserve) visit to tho Navajo Indian Reservation. Air Forco Photo) (U.S. V. : - "i of the Navajo Local physicians join V ' - only stings "On top of the deep satisfaction one gets from doing this, it is an excellent opportunity for us to exercise our ability to pick up and move into a remote area," explained Maj. Dixon Simpson, executive officer. "The medicine is routine, but we learn a lot from each other. The Navajos, Goshutes and other residents in the area have learned a lot about us and we know a lot more about mem and their desert lifestyle." - , & complications arose. i - T i tests and treated v i ? p, Each youngster was measured, weighed, interviewed for medical history, examined for dental health and auditory and visual acuity. After a complete battery of blood hemoglobin and urine tests, temperature and blood pressure were taken. Finally, ) "Some of those youngsters have a crack at a normal life something they might not have had if they had continued to suffer with a hip problem or advanced diabetes. That's it. It's knowing I've had a small part in someone else's greater future." The 508th Tactical Clinic and the contingent of augmentees from the 40th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, along with an additional physician or two, plan to return to the desert again next year, this time to one part of the reservation so remote, only occasional outsiders are seen. Other options include working in depressed areas of neighboring cities and towns where aged and disadvantaged need assistance not currently available through other government programs. "While operating in remote areas of the state affords us special opportunities, the challenge to handle logistics, transportation, administrative and technical support in coordination with local health authorities can be substantial in an urban environment, too," commented Simpson. Bates grins when he thinks of the children: "During one of the tours down south, we asked one little fellow to ; provide us with a urine sample and steered him towards a crowded bathroom. Only after we had run his sample through the analysis did he confess to having spilled most of it. "It's okay, though," he said "Wendell gave me some of his." Return to regular jobs "I suppose each of us gets something special from this kind of annual tour," said Capt. Judith Manning, an aeromedical evacuation nurse, "but there is a tot more to it than just getting away from the routine back home. Those we've met have all gone back to their hogans, trailers and ranches in the desert. I suspect most of them will forget us before the week is out But we won't forget them as long as we live." With completion of the tour, each of the team members has returned to their civilian occupations. The nurse has returned. to her diesel parts store in Washington, the optical technician has gone back to his construction firm, the executive officer to his executive suite at the office in Salt Lake City, and a lab technician to his classes at the University of Utah. Only Hy Bates returned to Hill AFB where y he carries out the operation of the dinic his task as the clinic's Air Reserve Technician. day-to-da- "IH be busy quite a while with just the reports. But you know, I like it out there," Bates confided. next year." "I'm even looking forward to . If the growing stack of favorable correspondence is any indication, so are a lot of other Utahns. |