Photo By 1st Lt. Chelsea Clark | U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian O'Donnell, assists U.S. Air Force Col. Thaddus...... read more read more
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LAHAINA, Hawaii—Military members who are providing no-cost medical, dental, and vision services in a temporary clinic at Lahaina’s Waiola Church are working hard to provide quality standards of cleanliness and safety for their patients.
“Here at [Tropic Care Maui County 2018], we have made sure our sanitation standards are upheld just as they would be at our medical facilities,” said Maj. Douglas Grabowski, the dental officer in charge assigned to Bolling AFB, Wash. District of Columbia and the officer in charge of the Lahaina clinic, one of six Tropic Care clinics throughout Maui County this week. Tropic Care is part of the U.S. military’s Innovative Readiness Training program, allowing military members to receive hands-on training to prepare for future deployments.
At each location, all tools used in the clinics are sterilized prior to their use on patients. U.S. Navy Reserve Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian O’Donnell, the senior enlisted dental tech at the Lahaina clinic site, is one of multiple service members responsible for the sanitation process.
“We’re doing a lot of invasive stuff so the biggest risk is infection,” said hospital corpsman 2nd class O’Donnell. “So one of the things we do is we provide completely sterilized equipment.”
In order to ensure all tools are sterilized properly, a separate room is required to house and maintain a sterile environment.
“We have set up a full Central Sterilization Room where you go through all the steps and make sure everything is sterilized, cleaned, and sanitized,” said O’Donnell. “Everything becomes completely asterile for use.”
O’Donnell has a background as a field medic, so serving as a dental technician has been an opportunity for new training. In fact, O’Donnell first experienced dental work during an Innovative Readiness Training mission in Arkansas in 2014. “Part of the thing about being in the Navy is being flexible,” he said. “I’ve been cross assigned as a dental technician and… it’s been an amazing opportunity because you get to experience so many things outside your normal field of practice.”
Grabowski said that without O’Donnell, the process to uphold sanitation standards would have taken a much longer time. Due to his efforts and efficiency, Grabowski awarded O’Donnell a commander’s coin as a token of appreciation.
(Story by Staff Sgt. Kevin Schulze, 181st Intelligence Wing, Indiana Air National Guard)
| Date Taken: | 08.15.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2018 22:00 |
| Story ID: | 288982 |
| Location: | LAHAINA, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 56 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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