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Show lilluit) limt-- s : HillAFB weather outlook 5-d- ay www. airfield-ops- '. begins spring 1 clean-u- p . hill.af.miloswweather 1 Hill .it J . A l ft by Col. Wes Somers n Commander, 75th Civil Engineering Group bkv t It is time to get rid of the winter look and spring into action to make Hill AFB the best looking base in Air Force Materiel Medical flight sends sends life preservers in rng pin by Kari Tilton Hilltop Times 55' High 37 Low Mostly cloudy with noon showers after- Even at a distance of nearly 7,100 miles, the 75th Medical Group logistics Flight n is providing essential tized towelettes and water purification tablets and also contain some other essen tial, maybe even life-saing elements, including a v pro-tectio- to Hill airmen fishing kit, saw and a razor. Airman Zachary Parr, who kit operoversees first-aiations and coordinates fund deployed in support of Ojeration Iraqi Freedom. The flight, made up of d only 15 people, is working long hours to prepare and distribute biological and chemical warfare antidotes, materials, first-ai- d on-ca- 50" High 34 Low Mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy WW IMj ill IWIP ,"' II, lyBBBWWM ing, acquisition, storage and distribution of the kits said that it's nice, but stress ful, to be involved in an e important oper ation. "We want 'to be sure the kits get put together right. If I was out there, I'd want med- war-tim- ical supplies and equipment for those headed to the Middle East. "We provide and maintain medical materiel services, and during wartime, we are to provide them wherever and whenlife-savin- g the best and the people who are out there now deserve it's all they have," the best ll he said. ever needed," said Capt. Kevin Bynum, the flight's commander. "In addition to our wartime tasking we are also responsible for an While those in the section are filling kits, the flight's biomedical equip-me- nt repair technicians $8.2 million peacetime budget to support the Medical Group and all beneficiaries." The medical logistics team is putting in some long hours and has been working at an increased operations tempo since the tragic events of September 11. The flight's pace 55' High 37 Low Partly cloudy Photo by Karl Tilton Airman Zachary Parr, 75th Medical Group's Logistics Flight first-ai- d kit coordinator and Airman Stacey Bunger, a medical materiel clerk, inventory items to be placed in first-aikits distributed to airmen deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. increased even more this November in anticipation d and preparation for another possible Gulf War. Anyone from Hill AFB, as well as members of Utah's 151st Air National Guard unit, deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom will most certainly be carry- ing some of the indispensable accessories put together medical logistics flight. With the looming threat of chemical and biological agents being used against allied forces, one of the most important elements a deploying airman will carry are the antidotes distributed by the flight two key elements are Atropine injectors, shot into the leg following exposure to nerve gas, and Cipro, the antibiotic taken following exposure to Anthrax. Medical logistics flight personnel create several types of first-aikits for placement in mobility bags, deployed onboard vehicles, aircraft, and for use by pilots. The kits, which carry more than one would typically associate with first-aid- . include various self-aiand buddy by the 60" High 40 Low Partly cloudy d stay busy making sure that medical equipment is safe, serviceable and properly configured before it is sent to the field as part of Air Transportable Clinics units. The ATCs are light and lean versions of a hospital emergency room and con tain virtually all the ele ments necessary for medical personnel to perform first- - response medical proce dures. The medical logistics flight has recently prepared three ATCs as well as sev eral smaller medical projects for airlift to undisclosed locations. The portable medical tents contain items such as defib mission-essenti- al rillators, laptop computers, blood analyzers, various drugs, generators, heaters and litters. "When I was deployed in the region, our closest sup port was more than 200 miles away. You can t just pick up the phone and call for help when you re out there." said Tech. Sgt. Alicia Shoemaker, the flight's NCOIC and a Desert Storm veteran. "It's a matter of life and death for patients in the field, and it's our responsibil ity to ensure we supply everything they need out there we take that responsibility very seriously." During peacetime, the flight works to ensure that the Base s Clinic and Pharmacy have the appropriate sup plies ana properly tunctioning equipment to support 75th Medical Group's mission. Depot assembles, packs medical supplies by Gary Boyle Hilltop Times staff Coalition service members wounded in the battles in Operation Iraqi Freedom will receive the best care anywhere from the I I.S. Army's Deployable Medical Systems and the resources that come in part from the Defense Distribution Depot at Hill. In the past few months, the 80 crew members in the DDHU's 60 High 36 Low Partly cloudy System meets training requirements from pofic I scat and canopy maintenance training, and "egress final" mail which means it can siipiKi t training in two sq arate Air Force Sx vialty Codes, said Baxter. "It gives us a smoother oxt-atioWe don't have to kirp flight line. We can do all of out training on these, take the canopy off, take the seat out and do all of the caress training, and it is capable of training in multiple AFSCs." Blakcmore said. For their effort, the product team was recognized with the Award for Excellence in Team hrftinnaixTby Col MikeCliapin, Training Systems Product Group diix1or at Writf AFB, Ohio. Assembly and Maintenance Division have moved approximately 100 tons of medical supplies around the world, according to division chief John Wojciechowski. "We completed all the initial hospital builds for the Army in the 1990s, now we do upgrades and retrofits. We're sending out packages all over the world through the units here in the states, some of which I'm sure is supporting the war effort," said Vei n Price, chief of Production Control. "It's an entire hospital that can do everything any other hospital can do. The initial supplies can keep the hospital going for 30 to 40 days after which normal supply lines take over." There are different hospital types such as casualty support, mobile Army surgical hospitals and forward surgical teams Photo by Gary Boyle which can take up to 14 acres of space, 48 hours to set up and Surgery equipment is put together for immediate use for specific serve innumerable casualties. The hospital is built using vartypes of operations. When the tray reaches the field, medical ious l shelter and tents, both of which arp teams sterilize the equipment making it Immediately ready for a refurbished and modified by the division. Operating surgeon to use. looms, laboratories, pharmacies and rooms are in the hard shelters. passageways, made of rubberized and onto pallets for shipping. Items can get shipped out to canvas, connect the entire hospital. Patients and medical staff waiting units within days of arrival or may take a few weeks can move freely throughout the hospital protected from the depending on how quickly the required assets can be brought elements and maintain a clean environment into the depot Over the past few months the crew has increased Like any piece of equipment that is used vitfnmimlu in Mm their pace fulfilling orders sometimes months ahead of schedfield, different medical systems need different snnnlies Dur ule to satisfy Defense Department needs, according to Wojing initial builds, hospitals received the same equipment, but ciechowski. as cam unit s mission etittered their needs in turn were "We have 2,000 to 3,000 different line items of surgical instruments that are available. Surgical trays are packed in cloth 'We supply everything from ucncils and parhnpe and sealed in heavy plastic, ready to go. In the field they can ray machines and blood testing labs, anvthini? thev need wp'11 open it up, sterilize it and the doctor can do surgery with it get to them," said Price, a former Navy medic who has 14 right away. Excess material comes back and everything years experience working with deployable medical systems. reusable is put back into the system," said Price. The hospitals have different departments so we break down In addition to healing the wounds of America's warriors, their orders so those are identifiable and when the assets DEPMEDS has been called upon to relive the suffering of hit the ground they can go directly to the American civilians and foreign nationals in natural catastroappropriate phes such as Hurricane Andrew in Florida or man made catAs supplies arrive at Hill the DDHtJ crpws assemble th aclysms such as the genoddal programs in Bosnia, Wojciechowski appropriate assets for each unit and pack those into boxes said. hard-wal- soft-wa- ll X-r- Soft-wa- ll This year, in conjunction with care items such as ban dages, antibiotics, sani- iQ I assistant editor Command. the Keep America Beautiful campaign, Hill AFB will participate in the Great American Clean-uon May 1. Employees are encouraged to clean up the areas around their buildings by raking, pulling weeds, picking up trash and other projects. This beautification initiative will have immediate, positive effects on how the base looks. In addition, Hill Pride Day, p scheduled for May 28, is planned landas a day for base-widscape improvement. This is a great opportunity to improve quality of life and at the same time enhance our base appearance. Each facility will be allocated up to $350 at the center on a first come, first serve basis within the funds budgeted for this effort. Organization that want to participate in Hill Pride Day should send a representative to the planning meeting, set for today at 9 a.m. in the Base Chapel Annex, Rooms Planning meetings are every Thursday at 9 am. in the Chapel e self-hel-p 18-1- 9. Annex. For more information on Hill Pride Day, contact the Project Officer, 2nd Lt. Cristy Wells, at Ext. or by at cristy.wellshill.af.mil. Feds approve pay increase WASHINGTON (AFPN) Most federal employees will soon see a largex-2.00pay increase thanks to 2fl amended Executive Order 13282j)ro- viuiiig retroactive locanry pay. The increase varies by locality from .9 to 1.7 percent and will be retroactive to Jan. 12. 3 Officials at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service should make retroactive payments to Department of Defense civilians in April and May based on information received from personnel systems. Federal Wage System employees should receive their retroac-tiv- e pay in their April 25 paychecks based on timely receipt of personnel records. General Schedule and other covered employees should receive their retroactive pay by the May 23 paycheck pro- vided personnel actions are received by late April. AF offers operation web site SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) The Air Force has a special Operation Iraqi Freedom Web site highlighting the service news and ohotos from locations covering Air Force support of the war in Iraq. This site is in addition to daily Air Force-wid- e npws featured atwww.af.mil. forward-deploye- d We want to give DeomY on easy access point to learn everything the Air Force is doing regarding Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Master Sgt. Jim Greelev. rbief nf news technology at the Air T VT rsews Agency here. rorce Visitors will find nhntno-raphy, videos, background - information, auiek farts maps and special reports on tne page. Access to the site is avail. able by clicking on the Operation Iraqi Freedom button on the news page or by going directly to http:www. af.milnewsopscenter lnaex.sntml. 1POOR |