Guard Medics deploy to Guatemala

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LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  Medical groups from the Arkansas Air National Guard's189th Airlift Wing and the 188th Fighter Wing completed a Joint Forces Medical Readiness Exercise deployment Aug. 15.

During the two-week deployment, 4,900 patients were seen and 7,293 prescriptions were filled. Approximately $50,000 of medicine dispersed for the deployment. Dental care was a major issue for many patients as military dentists extracted several hundred teeth during the mission.

The state of Arkansas and the nation of Guatemala are partnered through the National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program. This program links a state with an allied or neutral country to foster relationships between military, civilian and governmental organizations and provide an open exchange of ideas and information. Arkansas has been partnered with Guatemala since 2002 and has participated in several exchanges each year since.

"This deployment accomplished many things for us. It gave our people a chance to deploy to a foreign country, practice our primary care skills and deliver a medical mission to people who desperately need it," said Colonel John Dugan, 189th Medical Group commander. The team was made up of 39 professionals including doctors, dentists, optometrists, nurses, physician assistants, medics and administrative personnel.

People from the local area lined up daily and waited all day to be seen. Most patients had never been seen by a doctor. Several adults brought their children to be seen by a pediatrician and ended up being treated themselves for some type of medical problem.

According to Senior Master Sgt. Billy Ruhland, NCO-in-charge of the deployment, the most common medical issues seen during the deployment included intestinal parasites, arthritic conditions and vision problems.

"A lot of the problems we saw were really simple things like people needing reading glasses," he said. "Many of the optometry issues such as cataracts could probably have been prevented if people had access to sunglasses to protect their eyes while working out in the sun all day. The simple things we generally take for granted here at home can be a really big deal in Guatemala. Many of the people we saw just needed a routine antibiotic for some type of ongoing infection," Sergeant Ruhland added. "Unfortunately, simple antibiotic medication is not easily available to the citizens of these remote villages."

The units were in Guatemala Aug. 1 - 15.

The primary mission training objective of the Joint Forces Medical Readiness Exercise deployment was to operate in an austere environment while delivering medical care to the local population. During the two week period, medical personnel traveled to four different remote villages in the district of Baja Verapaz.

While in Guatemala, the medical personnel were based in San Jeronimo, Baja Verapaz, centrally located among the sites the medical team worked. The local school building in the village was shut down to be used as a medical clinic.

The Guatemalan government provided the team with translators. Fortunately, several members of the deployed team spoke fluent Spanish.

(Courtesy 189th Airlift Wing)