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Show Base Clinic, DoD closely monitoring HHIAFB health of those returning from deployment weather 5-d- ay outlook www. airfield-ops- pt Ii an d m u st he eviewed hy a creden-i, tied provider, said Stal f mo e i by Beth Young In an cl oi hill.af.miloswweather HE r. ill pi r i m n I In avoid lid In hi' r I i ,ii rills ,i n (i ii in following tin '''ill War, llic lepat tint III ii! MeleiiM i'i I I s ; l ) Ii.inim s In i k ( e v I tin tin ;i deploying will in ,i iiilici V health Ai mi ding In ;in Air 'l lilt News ;u tit r i v i mi I I I ) i i o it Ii rials havr made hanger to t that lucre health is IlKil e closely inonitoi ed Medical a sse ssinen s hot II he (ol e and alter deployment, liave heciiine mot e detailed and sit I 90 High 65 Low improved i i n d keeping will systetns and dalaba-.eensure that liealth concerns are heller documented and closely llioiiitol ed. he assessments are done Kirily cloudy i s 1H I on paper and reviewed hy a physician "to see il there an .my changes in service iiiemhers' health or condi-- i ion hat require attention," t said I Michael Kilpalric k, M the Peneclor deputy D ploymeol Health tagon in Ihe ail it lc Snppoi These assessments are not dit of t 88" High 65" Low Partly cloudy i I Sgt Jt sse Feliciani. Force Health Management Nt'OIC. new to the Air Force or Hill. However, the new forms are simple one quest iutniairc, now it "I'pi'loi e it 1)1 .1 n d i . I i pae was a much more detailed lorni Depending on how you till out this sheet there is ,i may he an additional lollow-uwith a provider," he said. "Before il was up to the p pat lent to identify a visit as somet hing deployment related, now we will have anywhere that possibly could have exposed you to a chemical or biological threat," said Feliciani. "Even il you feel fine, the blood is taken just in case you come back later not feeling good. asking about nightmares doing it here for several weeks now," said Maj. Robert Zajac, Hill Eaboratory Flight and concentration problems. The form is filled out either just before or after returning home from the deployment and depending on the answers given airmen may be required to see a physician or have blood drawn. "They will take your blood In case something should est Service personnel will again call Hill's involved. their questionnaire reviewed, like they disappeared for two weeks to spend time with their family. Even if they were feeling kind of 30-da- y "Before when people came back from the desert it is military members to have entered into the new sys- tem and have blood drawn, if needed. " sick they didn't want to come he blood is collected and a reposiat AFB Brooks as dictory tated by DoD. We have been I to the hospital and get checked out," said Feliciani. forwarded on to "Even if they weren't exposed to commander. The blood is frozen and saved indefinitely in the something potentially Partly cloudy "Obviously it affects every- at Hill by 1 st Lt. Carla K. Cleveland ' !:',.-- : 75th Medical Group - . Due to real-worl- d deploy- ments, operational readiness f Vt-- ' exercises and inspections, medical appointments will be limited in June and July to allow for vital readiness training. In addition, patients with scheduled appointments may experience delays or ... K4235T .jfr Lum, last-min-ut c r - , cancellations due to exercise activities: Cancellations will be rescheduled as soonlas pos1 sible. The staff strives to pro- HUflpJ vide care with little interruption, with priority given to active pbpjiitt Photos by Beth Young P2V aircraft for a fire manager of the temporary base. The tanker base's staff is made up of three Forest Service contractors prepare a specially equipped Forest Service personnel, contracted pilots, fighting drop in a high desert region of Utah. The aircraft, along with a are a fuel truck driver and a crew who fill the expected to use Hill's runway through aircraft with liquid retardant. Two specially are only being sent to high-risareas. equipped aircraft, a P2V and a DC( have already com"A Regional Forest Service office will dispatch aircraft pleted two flights. to areas with the greatest need," Heiskanen said. This year, the Forest Service won't rely on their rouThe Forest Service has already declared an extreme as the tankers tinely contracted key aircraft were fire last the of two down went after probability in the region's desert areas and very grounded year planes crews. their high probability of fires in the mountainous regions. killing "This is pretty rare for this early in the season," said With fewer aircraft in the system, fleet numbers are down and right now. according to Heiskanen, aircraft Fee Rackham, tanker base manager. If needed, the Forest Service can call for additional tanker support from National Guard and Air Force reserve units, added Rackham. To coordinate Forest Service flights from Hill's Might line, the tanker unit maintains contact with Hill's ''V Base Operations office using a computerized system that alerts the airfield managers of expected tanker departure times. Base Operations, in turn notifies air traffic controllers here who give the pilots clearance. "The Forest Service operations have a minimal impact on our mission as they are and have a small number of Mights," said Dave Maynard, a Base Operations Specialists. The temporary tanker base is responsible for responding to fires in various Utah locations as well as Idaho, 1 ... ' 4 southwest Wyoming, Nevada, and along the Utah, Colorado border. List year, the base coordinated 351 tanker Mights, dropping more than 800,000 pounds of retardant over 45 wild fires. Jed Linletield, a Forest Service contractor, fills a specially The Forest Service tanker base is expecting to operequipped P2V aircraft with fire retardant. The P2V can hold up to ate from Hill's Might line through 19,000 of the tire fighting liquid. duty members and family mem- bers enrolled to a 75th MDG Primary Care Manager, j Dates most affected are June 14-2- care appointments. Operationally relevant medical care such as flyer sick call will continue uninterrupted. The pharmacy will remain open with no change in services other than longer-than-usu- al waiting times for prescriptions from civilian providers. If an appointment isn't avail- J able through TriWest contact a Team Nurse for Triage to the appropriate (728-2600- ), level of care: Team Tahoe, Ext. Team Brighton, Ext. Flight Medicine, Ext. Pediatrics, Ext. or Life Skills, Ext. As always, any Hill Clinic beneficiary who experiences a medical emergency potential loss of life, limb or eyesight should go to the nearest civilian emergency room and then notify the Primary Care Manager of the treatment the next duty day. self-sufficie- nt mid-Octobe- On 1. these days, clinics will be primarily limited to urgent or acute 0 Partly cloudy at www.deploymentlink.osd.mil appointments 7i lire-fightin- g 80' High 55 Low d Clinic limits k Partly cloudy pocket-size- health guides to deployed individuals. "We've learned a great deal from deployments over the past 12 years since the Gulf War, and we intend to use gram is all about." For more information on this and other deployment health related issues visit DoD's deployment Web site DC-- High 60 Low manders on the battlefield and distributing a physician make sure every- one in the clinic because it brings additional work but fuel." said Anne Heiskanen, assistant 81 providing environmental risk assessments to com- those lessons to benefit those who serve today," Kilpatrick said. "That's what this pro- thing is OK just general health wise." event that future symptoms arise then blood is available for testing. "If something comes up health risk communication and medical intelligence by dangerous like chemical or biological agent, this is a chance to be examined by 1 82' High 62" Low More research is being done to improve such areas as The clinic has a deadline for all returning Might line home for the next several months. Poised lor a challenging fire fighting season, members of the Ogden Ranger district arrived al Hill June 1, setting up shop as they have for the past seven years. Due to Forest Service concerns of higher than average fire danger in local wilderness areas, the tanker base personnel arrived here two weeks earlier than normal. " The recent lightening storms have been cause lor concern, and the heavy spring rain has caused larger problems with plants growit's extra ing rapidly and now drying out just the first step to protecting deployed military. more effort both on the part of the clinic and returning airman however it's is in the in the best interest for all n Will) weal her forecasters calling for another exceptionally hot and dry summer, local For- as well as protecting the individual," added Zajac. The assessments and new record keeping systems is treatment." The changes may mean Fire fighting tankers stationed by Kari Tilton Hilltop Times, assistant editor specimens. Now DoD is doing this to protect themselves ever come up we could hopefully come up with better Everybody who was in those defined areas, even if you were on a ship in the Persian Gulf you would get blood taken." we did during the Gulf War, where people were claiming they were coming down with all kinds of sicknesses and nobody had post war said Zajac. "We have learned from past experiences this is better for everyone especially, deployed individuals. dom or anything with Bosnia cecot d of your health condition both before and after the deployment." The new forms, which went from six lo 24 questions, inquire about a wide range of subjects such as the area of deployment and exposure lo everything from loud noises lo ionizing radiation. The questions even go into the area of mental health a the advantage is that we won't have problems like years down the road we will be able to determine if there is a link for people who served in a common area," have gone to a specifically defined area, such as in as in support of Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freeif you r. Airmen reminded to update VRED information Credit authorized for Texas tion teams case tion prevents unnecesthe AFPC Web page. contingency deployment In the five man becomes AFPN sary delays," said RANDOLPH AFB, ( in ) months since the official l.iunch of the virtual record of emergency data, more than 383,000 airmen have updated their contact info- rmation. While this number is impressive, there is more work to be done, according to Air Force Personnel Center officials here. "It's imperative we have active every airman duty. Guard and Reserve fill out their emergency contact information," said Maj. Jerry Con vi lion, chief of the center's casuI alty services branch. "The information is essential for our casualty notifica an airincapacit- ated or worse yet, killed." Better known as vRFD, this online form replaced the paper Department of Defense Form 93. Record of Emergency Data, as the only way for airmen to provide personal emergency information. By filling out the form from any Internet-connecte- com- d puter, Air Force casualty officials have immediate access to critical infor- mation needed to contact family members if an airman becomes missing, suffers a serious illness or injury, or dies, he said. "Accurate and current familv-contac- t informa On Cou-villio- "It also avoids hours or even days of uncertainty during which casually teams are sometimes left to track down next of kin." New procedures require all airmen to update their information electronically every six months, before deployments and after permanent changes of station. "Once ihe member initially completes the form, they w ill be able to go in at any time and update specific information as needed," he said. "It's simple, and it saves time over the old paper form." people can enter the virtual military personnel flight by clicking on the "vMPF" logo at the top of the page. New users will need to estab- lish an account. The online application asks questions such as which relatives should be contacted and what their addresses are. This process takes most peo- ple about 20 minutes, said officials. For more information about the vMPF or vRED, call the Air Force Contact Center toll free at (866) 229-707- (Courtesy of AFPC News Service) by Master Sgt. Randy L. Mitchell Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs A temporary RANDOLPH AFB, Texas (AFPN) y exception to short-tou- r will award permanent credit to many airmen deployed overseas for recent contingency operations, according to Air Force Personnel officials here. Eligible airmen must have been on temporary duty starting on or after Sept. 11, 2001, for at least 181 consecutive days at an overseas location designated as a hostile-firor imminent-dange- r pay area. This credit is intended to reduce the chances of people being sent as nonvolunteers to an unaccompanied short tour soon after a prolonged contingency deployment, officials said. The change is an exception to current policy, which only authorizes short-tou- r credit for airmen accumulating 300 or more days on TDY overseas during an period. This exception is not without precedent. During operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, an exception was approved to authorize short-tou- r credit to people who deployed for at least 181 consecutive days from Aug. 1, 1990. to June 10, 1991. (Courtesy of AFPC News pol-ic- n change-of-statio- e Service) |