Foster NICU cares for PACAF infants

KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA, JAPAN

04.17.2014

Story by Airman 1st Class Zade Vadnais 

18th Wing

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan - Camp Foster’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit provides around-the-clock care for newborn infants on Okinawa, as well as those at other Pacific Air Forces locations whose needs can’t be met by facilities at their home base.

Although it is located in a naval hospital, the Camp Foster NICU is staffed entirely by Air Force personnel.

“We have a staff of four active duty neonatologists, one civilian nurse, 15 active duty nurses and 11 active duty medical technicians,” said Maj. Eric Rabenstein, Foster NICU medical director and neonatologist.

Providing care for an average of five patients daily, the Foster NICU is ready to handle non-surgical issues for any newborn infant born in the 23rd week of pregnancy up to full-term.

“We’re a 16-bed, level three intensive care unit, so we serve pretty much the NICU needs for all of PACAF,” Rabenstein said. “Until recently, Guam had been 100 percent relying on us to medevac their NICU patients. Now they have some coverage at the civilian hospital, but we’re still responsible for medevac’ing all their patients that are 30 weeks [of age] and below either to us or to mainland Japan.”

If the infant will only be able to withstand a shorter flight, they will be medevac’d to Okinawa to be stabilized. If the patient requires more ongoing care than can be offered at the Foster NICU, they will be transported to mainland Japan for further care, Rabenstein said.

In rare situations when the needs of the patient exceed the capabilities of Foster’s NICU, the patient will typically be medevac’d to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. Usually, this is only done when the infant is facing surgical issues, since the Foster NICU does not have access to a pediatrics surgery facility.

“It’s a pretty wide range of neonatal disease processes that you see when you’re caring for the smallest pre-term babies up to up-to-term babies,” Rabenstein said. “The NICU staff is pretty well-trained to handle all of those.”

• Date Taken: 04.17.2014
• Date Posted: 04.29.2014 22:08
• Story ID: 128164
• Location: KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA, JP