Air Force team teaches Hondurans how to ‘fish’ for health

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt Anna Siegel
  • Joint Task Force-Bravo Public Affairs
COMAYAGUA, Honduras (ACCNS) --  A young Honduran mother, with three small children clinging to her skirt and a baby on the way, leaves the village school yard with a handful of vitamins, a couple of toothbrushes and a smile.

She’s just one of almost 6,000 patients a team from the 355th Medical Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., provided services to during their medical readiness training exercise, or MEDRETE, here July 19-29.

The 11-member team spent 10 days in rural villages in Honduras working with folks from Soto Cano Air Base, including the medical element, joint security forces, Honduran military members and the Honduran Ministry of Health.

“Our team provided preventative medicine education, triage, general medicine, dental
services, optometry and pharmaceutics,” said Col. David Guerra, the 355th Dental Squadron and MEDRETE commander.

The first stop for the crowds of villagers was a preventative medicine class taught by Honduran army Sgt. Maj. Luis Aleman. His regular job is as a paramedic and dental technician for his fellow troops, but these two weeks, he’s instructing local villagers on the importance of brushing their teeth and washing their hands.

Along with basic hygienic instruction, Sergeant Aleman told the crowds how taking care of the environment, by burning their trash and not littering, will improve their health. He explained what to expect during their visit with the U.S. doctors and not to be embarrassed to describe their ailments.

“We want to teach them ‘how to fish,’ not just give them a handout,” said 1st Lt. Miguel
Guevara, the operations officer from the 355th Medical Support Squadron.

After the prospective patients learned how often they should shower, do their laundry and cut their fingernails, they lined up for pre-natal vitamins, multivitamins, toothbrushes and
de-worming medicine. Then, if they wanted to be seen by a physician, they were sent to the pediatrician, optometrist, dentist or general health care provider based on their needs. Most of the children lined up for dental sealants, a mixture designed to prevent cavities.

The Davis-Monthan medical team worked with volunteer translators from Soto Cano to talk to the patients about their symptoms and recommended treatments. Several translators received on-the-spot training on various procedures to assist the doctors and nurses in quickly diagnosing the thousands of patients.

Army Sgt. Francisco Gobourne, an avionics technician with the 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment here, learned how to test patients on the eye chart and use the auto-refractor, a device that gives an estimated prescription.

The patients then went into a classroom-turned-optometry lab to see Capt. (Dr.) Robert
Giles. He checked the health of their eyes, adjusted the prescription, and advised them on eye-care before turning them over to Airman 1st Class Christine Bailey to find a pair of donated eyeglasses or sunglasses to suit their needs.

“Most people will take any frames they can get, they’re just so grateful to be able to see,”
Airman Bailey said. “But others will try to get a cooler set of frames.”

Patient Carlos Sanchez found out he has cataracts, but was still happy.

“Until now, I couldn’t say I felt good, because until now I couldn’t see,” he said, proudly
displaying his “new” ‘70s-style glasses.

Next, the patients waited in line at the pharmacy, yet another tiny classroom with bags and boxes of pills and vitamins piled on the desks.

Capt. Melinda Sams, the only pharmacist on the team, said she enjoyed running her first pharmacy, especially with the appreciativeness the patients have despite the wait. She
created a form for the doctors, listing the 40 most common medications she had available, so she can give pre-packaged doses of whatever the doctors prescribe.

While most patients walked away with more than they came with, others left with a little
less, specifically, their teeth. Honduran military and civilian dentists worked with the Air
Force to extract decayed teeth.

At the end of the 10 12-hour days, the medical team provided more than 10,800 medical
services to 5,888 people in seven villages.

“This was the best group I’ve worked with in the six MEDRETEs I’ve done,” Colonel Guerra said. “They had the best organization and focus on the mission.”

Dr. Wilmer Amador, the medical element liaison national officer, agreed.

“This team provided true quality patient care,” he said. “They took the time to explain to
mom and dad how to take care of their kids.”

The patients weren’t the only ones to benefit from the outreach, Colonel Guerra said. His team got the experience of a medical deployment, saw patient issues they would never see at home and worked in a joint environment with a host nation to benefit a whole community.

Army 1st Lt. Angela Wyatt, a medical element nurse, provided in-country logistics support for the team and worked as a triage nurse during the exercise. She said this was her first time working with another branch and she enjoyed practicing rural medicine with the Air
Force.

She said all the planning and hard work was worth it.

“More than 5,000 people in Honduras got multi-vitamins,” she said. “That’s a very good
thing.”