Medical Civic Action Program in Shinile Woreda, Ethiopia, 2010

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Medical Civic Action Program in Shinile Woreda, Ethiopia, 2010




Image by US Army Africa

Nurses sort doses of de-worming medication, Shinile Woreda, Ethiopia, Oct. 13, 2010.


U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kat McDowell

Nursing students from the Arts Medical College of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, with help from the U.S. Army 418th Civil Function Specialty Team, Combined Joint Task Force â€" Horn of Africa, distributed medications to more than 900 children in seven remote villages during the second phase of a Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) to improve health conditions in the Shinile Woreda (district), south of Djibouti Oct. 19.

Medications distributed were tailored to the results of parasitological testing of samples collected from children in the area during the first phase of the Shinile MEDCAP. Children were treated for Schistosoma mansoni and hookworms, parasitic worms that cause dysentery, dehydration, anemia and skin lesions.

“Part of the sustainability piece of these missions is the collaboration between our medical and nursing experts and the students,” said U.S. Army Maj. Brad Franklin, an FSP nurse practitioner. “Sharing experiences with the students helps guide the next generation of healthcare professionals in Ethiopia.”

Franklin said the participating students would graduate in a year’s time. The MEDCAP provided them practical field experience to better prepare them for future responsibilities, including how to treat patients with limited supplies and capabilities in rural situations.

“Most cases we’ve only read about and haven’t seen,” said Kadar Mohammed, one of the four nursing students involve. “Things like elephantiaisis and gout, we only hear about in class. This experience will help us better care for the people that need it most.”

In the third phase of the mission, more samples will be collected from children in Shinile Woreda and tested for parasites. Data from all phases of the MEDCAP will be provided to the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to augment their knowledge base and awareness of health issues in Shinile.

“The upshot is that healthier populations are more stable populations,” said Staff Sgt. Douglas Rueff, 418th CA combat medic.

“If the government can show it can provide basic services for the people, the people will feel more connected to the government and feel less sympathetic to extremist groups that come through the area. This helps the long-term view,” he said.

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U.S. Army Africa MEDFLAG 09 Medical Visit Hhohho, Swaziland 090807




Image by US Army Africa

www.usaraf.army.mil

MEDFLAG medics provide relief to Swazi villagers

By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs

HHOHHO, Swaziland â€" U.S. military medics partnered with Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) and a Swaziland Public Health medical team to offer care to nearly 500 Swazi villagers during MEDFLAG 09.

The village, in the Swaziland’s Zinyane Province, was one of four villages the MEDFLAG team visited during the two-week exercise. The 35-member U.S. medical team arrived in Hhohho on Aug. 7 for a two-day visit.

U.S. Army Africa is conducting MEDFLAG 09, a joint and combined military exercise that supports U.S. Africa Command’s Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) strategy â€" which includes supporting African countries with medical capabilities.

“It very important for the Soldiers to go out and deliver healthcare into the local villages,” said Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09 from the U.S. Army’s 212th Combat Support Hospital. “Hopefully, by the time we provide the final humanitarian and civil assistance event, the impression we leave with the Swazi government and its people is ‘wow, we miss the Americans’.”

The U.S. personnel are in Swaziland at the invitation of the Swazi government and in coordination with the U.S. Embassy in Mbabane. They depart Swaziland once the exercise is complete. Before U.S. troops head home, they will provide outstanding medical and dental care to the Swazi people, Money said.

U.S. Army Capt. Julie Bridges, a nurse with the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine Europe in Landstuhl, Germany, provided healthcare training and education to the villagers. She worked closely with local public health leaders on the best way to share her expertise.

“It is important to teach the villagers how to take care of themselves and Capt. Bridges has shared a lot of good information,” said Swaziland Regional Public Health Matron Medy Shongwe. “We want to show them how to clean food, boil water to drink, use different buckets for clean and dirty water and ways to prevent getting sexual disease.”

A local drama group performed several different health education skits â€" focusing how to avoid/minimize the spread of diseases.

The medical clinic was a combined effort, said USDF Lt. Col. Moses Zwane, MEDFLAG 09’s co-director.

“We couldn’t have done these humanitarian missions on our own,” Zwane said. “The U.S. couldn’t have done the missions without our USDF soldiers and the public health workers.”

Photo Caption: Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force Sgt. Sandile Gama looks on as Army Spc. Michelle Fiveash, 212th Combat Hospital medic, checks the vitals on a patient during the first of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Hhohho Village, Swaziland on Aug. 7.

Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs

Cleared for public release.

The images are generally considered in the public domain. Request that credit be given to the U.S. Army and individual photographer.

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Medical Team Pin




Image by UTS Library

This pin was given to members of the Olympics Medical Team. It features the Olympic Mascots Syd, Millie and Olly dressed in medical attire. The pin was based on a drawing by Samantha Petersen called 'The Medical Mascots.'

The logistics of managing large crowds for mega events such as the Olympic Games can often involve large numbers of people, and draw on a range of professions to provide necessary support services, such as, in this case, medical support.