Photo By Sgt. Ian Valley | U.S. Army Reserve 1Lt. Miranda Jerran, a nurse with the 48th Combat Support Hospital B...... read more read more
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Island of Kauai, Hawaii — A group of special needs individuals welcomed U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers and members of the U.S. Air Force and Navy June 16 when they stopped by to deliver free medical assistance during Operation Tropic Care 2017 on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii.
While most of Tropic Care was spent helping the entire population of Kauai, the operations mobile team made time to help members of the special needs community, setting up their mobile site at an adult daycare facility for people with special needs, fitting them for glasses and providing teeth cleanings and fillings.
Ray Ho, Department of Health head of the developmental disabilities program and native Kauaian, has been working with the special needs community for 20 years, and believes they are an overlooked group.
“Working with the special needs population is unique because in our job we serve individuals from what we call the cradle to the grave,” said Ho. “It’s not like a program where they come in, we treat them and we discharge them. There are some individuals who have been in our program for 40-50 years. We develop a relationship with them.”
Ho says the relationship he has built with many members of this community has let him see that this can be an overlooked group. Bringing in the Tropic Care team to this community allowed them to get the medical services that some need.
“One of the things that makes the mission on Kauai meaningful is the focus on the special needs population,” said Ho. “These people really benefit from the services.”
According to Ho, one of the biggest challenges in giving medical care to individuals with special needs is making them comfortable enough to work with, but having the mobile team makes it possible to work with them easily.
“Having the clinic here is an advantage because a lot of our special needs population cannot handle large crowds because of their diagnosis,” says Ho. “Being in a place that is familiar will help them.”
The group has also reacted much better when they are treated by Soldiers rather than by doctors according to Ho.
“One of the things that I have noticed is that when a lot of our individuals go to the private sector they have a lot of behaviors,” says Ho. “The very first time we had the Innovative Readiness Training mission come down here we expected to have a lot of challenges but surprisingly they didn’t and part of that was because they’re not used to seeing the men in uniform.”
The mission on Kauai not only benefits the communities that are impacted through the efforts of the servicemembers that come to the island, but also the Soldiers who treat the patients.
Army Reserve Soldier Pfc. Samantha Bacalso, a medic with the 48th Combat Support Hospital from Virginia Beach, Virginia, spent the day screening each special needs patient before they got to see the doctors.
Bacalso, who has worked with special needs individuals before, says missions like this are very gratifying.
“When I was told I was going to be coming to this location at first I wasn't too excited about another day of work,” said Bacalso, laughing. “Then they told me I would be working with individuals with special needs and I got very excited about it.”
According to Bacalso, these individuals need the attention Tropic Care has given them.
“A lot of these individuals don’t know that they need insurance,” said Bacalso. “Someone has to advocate for them, and get them the care they need.”
Bacalso says this population is especially important to help, because a lot of them do not know that that they require the help.
Ho agrees, saying that these services that are being provided by the Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen are very important to this community. This is a community that is comprised mainly of people who cannot make money for themselves.
“A lot of times you can go get your eyes checked, but you can’t afford the glasses,” said Ho.
Operation Tropic care was a mission that aimed to assist in addressing the Kauai community healthcare needs at no cost while allowing the military to train on their mission-essential expeditionary tasks. According to both Ho and Bacalso this mission was a success.
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2017 18:52 |
| Story ID: | 238349 |
| Location: | KAPAA, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
This work, Special needs persons gets special gift during Tropic Care, by SGT Ian Valley, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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