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Show October 8, 1998 Viewpoint speeds by Col. John A Reyburn 75th Medical Group commander 0300. The phone rings. A groggy hello is answered with a crisp recall notice to call the next person in the chain and to report immediately with mobility gear. A crew chief reporting to the flight line? Munitions Specialist deploying to handle ammunitions? Nope. This is a medical technician reporting to the 75th Medical Group for deployment duty. For the Medical Group, medical readi- ness is Job One. Technically, "medical readiness encompasses the ability to mobilize, deploy and sustain field medical services and support for any operation requiring medical services; to maintain and project the continuum of healthcare resources required to provide for the health of the force; and to operate in conjunction with beneficiary healthcare" (DoD definition, Nov. 93) . What does that mean for the Medical Group? On June 1, 1998, the Medical Group Air Transportable was assigned a Hospital that is capable of supporting a deployed force of 3,000 to 5,000 people for 30 days. The role of the Air Transportable Hospital is to provide medical services for any type of mil- 50-be- d '101 critical DTTDeD(saD tread noness Once delivered to an operational site, the Air Transportable Hospital staff and a limited number of base support staff can have each part of the hospital fully operational within 24 hours. To successfully operate, Base Operating Support is required for messing, power, water, fuels, billeting, latrines, showers, laundry, waste management, transportation, maintenance, logistics and security. Because of the wide variety of possible operating locations and potential adversaries, Air Transportable Hospital components are used like building blocks, allowing planners to mix and match unit type codes to supCol. John A Reyburn port any contingency. Various combinations of components are used to itary operation anywhere in the world. support a specific population size and deployment scenario. Rapid delivery of medical care worldThe Medical Group has 186 primary wide is crucial to wellness, morale and overall readiness. mobility positions to support the deployAir Transportable Hospital capabilment of the Air Transportable Hosities include emergency care, outpa- pital. There are also two decontamination teams of 20 personnel each and 23 pertient services, limited inpatient services, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, sonnel assigned to the Cargo Marlab, pharmacy services, dental shalling Team responsible for processing services and medical administrative of the Air Transportable Hospital cargo support. Casualties can be stabilized immediately after we are tasked for for return to duty or evacuation. The deployment. The Deployment Processing Unit shifts, 24 hours hospital runs Team consists of 17 members whose per day, 7 days per week. non-medic- non-medic- al 12-ho- primary responsibility is to administer and ensure all shots are current, dependent on the deployment location. The Flight Medicine Clinic, the Dental Clinic and the Mental Health Clinic are required to screen all medical records of deploying personnel to ensure they are worldwide quali- fied. The Medical Group Public Health Flight is responsible for providing medical intelligence briefings to all deploying personnel. In reality, the Medical Group will not deploy alone and will have the responsibility of coordinating the medical care of the other units deploying, as well as its own deploying personnel. The Medical Group will continue intense medical readiness training to meet the requirements to successfully deploy and operate the Air Transportable Hospital. Training, inspections and real world deployments involving the majority of the Medical Group personnel will significantly affect the availability of medical services at the hospital. Please bear with us as we face the challenge of meeting the demands of our primary mission readiness, while continuing to provide routine health care. days' Command lauded for low number of mishaps by Gen. George T. Babbitt U Commander, Air Force Materiel Command Labor Day marked the conclusion of the 1998 "101 Critical Days" campaign. The Air Force number of fatalities is the lowest ever for this summer's The '101 Days' are behind us this year; however, the challenge to instill safety during all on and off duty activities remains. cam- paign. I commend everyone in Air Force Materiel Command for the concerted effort made in keeping this number low. The "101 Critical Days" campaign focused on activities that traditionally have claimed lives during the summer months. Even though extra emphasis was displayed by all echelons, the Air Force still lost 20 mishaps irreplaceable Air Force people to y this year. I am sad to report two of these people were AFMC personnel and both lost their lives in water sports activities. One was attempting to swim to shore (approximately 50 feet) from a boat. The person became tired and was drawn under water by a strong current. Alcohol was a factor in this mishap. The other AFMC loss was part of a nine person white-watraft. The raft rafting group in an eight-perso- n struck a rock and overturned. Seven of the nine occupants, made it safely .out of the river. Our Air Force off-dut- er Gen. George T. Babbitt Gen. George T. Babbitt member was one of two who drowned in the activity. and be committed to safe conduct both on and off the In spite of these tragedies, the Air Force is making job. The "101 Days" are behind us this year; however, progress by applying Operational Risk Management, the challenge to instill safety during all on and off duty activities. or ORM, principles to activities remains. Not a single Air Force person was lost in an The upcoming time between Thanksgiving and ground mishap this summer. I attribute this success to commander and supervisory involvement as the start of the New Year is another challenging time well as every individual accepting responsibility for for our command and the Air Force. Be cautious in his or her activities. It is now essential for your upcoming holiday travels, be responsible in your each individual to apply ORM principles and accept use of alcohol and keep safety foremost in your mind ., responsibility and accountability for his or her actions as we look to the future. on-dut- y on-du- ty on-dut- y , "titiForce peofrh building the world's most respected Air and Space Force F1 Quality Systems for America's Air Force Hilltop Times Published by MorMedia. Inc.. a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force, under exclusive written contract with Hill AFB. This commercial enterprise Air Force newspaper is an authorized publication for members of trie U.S. military services. Contents of the Hilltop Times are not necessarily the official views of. or endorsed by. the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the Department of the Air Force. 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