Aviation medics create family practice

Photo By Monica Guthrie | Pfc. Lisa Tabary, medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, draws blood from Pfc. Jessiah Couch, member of HHC, 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, May 19, at the Camp Striker Troop Medical Clinic, Baghdad.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

05.20.2008

Story by Spc. Monica Guthrie 

3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division

By Pfc. Monica K. Smith

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Two medics dance separate jigs while one sings as they wait on the next patient.

Through such a close working environment, the Combat Aviation Brigade medics stationed here say they've become like family while working at the Camp Stryker Troop Medical Clinic.

"Everybody knows everybody," said Sgt. Erick Garcia, member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 603rd Aviation Support Battalion. "In some cases we know each other's families. We've known each other since we were privates. It makes everything a lot easier. You have someone to talk to and confide in."

This family environment extends even to those medics who are new to the unit.

Private First Class Lisa Tabary, medic with HHC, 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, from Fayetteville, N.C., joined the CAB medics in December. Fresh from training, Tabary found it easy to join her first unit, despite being in a deployed environment.

"Coming here wasn't very hard," Tabary said. "All of these guys took care of me and made sure I had everything I needed. They really looked out for me."

For these Soldiers, unity increased when they began assisting the understaffed 25th Combat Surgical Hospital in Baghdad.

Garcia, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., said working at the CSH to treat Soldiers with serious injuries like gunshot wounds or shrapnel wounds can have an effect on medics. It's especially emotional seeing injured Soldiers interacting with their loved ones.

"It affects you," he said.

Each month since November, the CAB has sent two medics to help relieve pressure on the understaffed hospital. The type of care given at the CSH is drastically different from that given at the TMC. Garcia said the hardest part of his job is dealing with emotional issues after returning from the CSH.

"(At the TMC) I mostly perform patient care, like sick call, taking care of Soldiers," Garcia said. "Coughing, sprained ankles, normal stuff that happens to people every day. Not like battlefield injuries."

Garcia said medics rely on their close network to combat emotional strains that may arise from working at the CSH and the daily strains of deployment.

"It helps to talk about it with other medics," Garcia said. "A lot of (the CAB medics) are knowledgeable. They have seen it. We talk about it and we rely on each other and our families."

Specialist Andrew Milone, HHC, 603rd ASB, said the medics' closeness curbs the amount of problems they might face as individuals and as a team.

"We argue; we'll have disagreements, but it's always resolved pretty easily," said Milone, from Miami. "We don't have any troublemakers. We know how to interact with each other, which limits the problems we may have."

Many of the medics voluntarily work past their 12-hour shifts, Tabary said, crediting a pleasant environment created by singing medics, ice pops and good-natured practical jokes.

"There's a good atmosphere," Tabary said. "I'm really grateful for the people I work with."

• Date Taken: 05.20.2008
• Date Posted: 05.20.2008 15:32
• Story ID: 19631
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ