Photo By Staff Sgt. Anne Ortiz | Senior Airman Juliana Busque, 47th Flying Training Wing administration technician,...... read more read more
Throughout the past year, the 47th Medical Group experimented with connecting medics with pilots going through a rigorous 52-week undergraduate training program to streamline medical care and minimize lost training time.
This one-of-a-kind program, which assigned a qualified medical group technician to each pilot training class in the 47th Operations Group, created a liaison to accomplish a couple of goals; to streamline the pilots’ training experiences by minimizing lost training time, and to link the medical group with training operations, since both units depend on each other to accomplish the mission.
According to leadership, the class medic program, having only been active for a little more than a year, has been a success.
“When I took command at Laughlin, I hadn’t been to a training base before, and I was struck by the energy and excitement here associated with students learning how to fly,” said Col. Thatcher Cardon, 47th MDG commander. “Even their buildings themselves have a lot of creativity with the way they are set up and the classrooms and the heritage they have there. I thought, ‘this is really fun. In the med group, we have great medics and a lot of our own heritage.’”
For Cardon, who is the original creator of the concept, it seemed like the medical group and the operations group were separated. Since both units are rich in history and tradition, and shared the same mission, he thought they should be more closely associated.
“I wanted my medics to have that same excitement and realize they own a piece of the mission,” he said. “It came to me one day: ‘why don’t we assign one of our best medics to follow a class from start to finish to be a liaison with that class?’”
So, the idea was born. Senior Airman Juliana Busque, 47th Flying Training Wing administration technician, volunteered and became one of the first class medics of the Air Force.
As designed, the class medic program is intended to provide answers for the pilots and their families without taking them away from training or creating additional stress.
“I think my role in the operations group, being assigned as a class medic, helps the student pilots understand what the medical group has to offer concerning flight medicine, what sick call has to offer and what sick call actually is,” Busque said. “We get them in the right direction and get the things accomplished that they need.”
The class medics are more than a go-to for medical or healthcare questions. Though they are not qualified to prescribe medications or even provide actual hands-on medical care, they are the conduit of information for these new Airmen. They follow the pilots through their Laughlin journey, becoming integrated into the student squadrons.
“During the pilots’ first couple of months, I spent as much time as possible with them,” she said.
During this period, the pilot trainees are in the aerospace physiology section, which is located directly behind the medical group. They are learning basic survival skills through altitude chamber training, and what happens if they run out of oxygen, and how to eject out of an aircraft during an inflight emergency.
“It’s fun and interactive, and they always welcome the class medics to go,” Busque said. “Later when they’re flying, their schedules are super busy. I try to spend two to three hours a week with them during this phase.”
Because of the time she spent integrated into the training operations, including being on-call 24/7, Busque grew close to class 17-15. She said it was an inspiring experience for her and drew her closer to the wing’s mission.
“I’m so proud of the class I was assigned, and I’m glad they felt comfortable coming to me for their medical needs,” Busque beamed. “A lot of them said they didn’t feel comfortable going to their supervision or the medical group because they didn’t know what they could or could not do.”
The undergraduate pilot training students stay occupied not only with learning how to fly, but also with demanding academic courses as well. At the end of the day, worrying about healthcare is simply one more stressor.
“Having a class medic was great because the idea of talking to a flight surgeon was terrifying,” said 1st Lt. Nathaniel Losco 47th Student Squadron pilot. “We had to worry about being medically set back, being taken off of flight status and about the rank difference.”
The demands on training and the new military environment, coupled with very strict medical restrictions, is easily perceived as a daunting task.
“Talking to an Airman our age was less intimidating and easier since we are in class so much, and Airman Busque would take the effort to come to us. I’m so glad they had the class medic program because if not, I’m sure there would be people who wouldn’t speak up [about their medical needs] at all.”
After a year of trial, the class medic program is giving the student pilots a more seamless healthcare experience, enabling the pilots to concentrate on learning to fly.
“I think this program has brought the medical group and the operations group closer,” Cardon said. “During meetings with the operations group commanders and squadron commanders, I’ve heard them reference the program. They see what benefit the program can bring, and they’ve naturally adopted the idea.”
The idea that began as a shot in the arm to streamline training at Laughlin caught on and is now being considered by the Air Force as a solution at other pilot training bases. This liaison service is proving to be an effective cure to the issues student pilots have had during training, and it is connecting two crucial groups of the base under one mission.
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.28.2017 18:28 |
| Story ID: | 255539 |
| Location: | LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 6 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Laughlin links medics with pilots in training, by SSgt Anne Ortiz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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