Photo By Thomas Wheeler | U.S. Army Col. Jon DuBose (right), brigade surgeon for the 30th Armored Brigade Combat...... read more read more
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ARIFJAN, Kuwait —From Kuwait to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the doctors of Task Force Spartan Shield are fighting hard to prevent the spread of COVID-19 throughout the U.S. Army Central area of operation.
From Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, U.S. Army Col. Matthew Liepke, the 42nd Infantry Divi-sion and Task Force Spartan surgeon, coordinates how all units subordinate to Task Force Spar-tan fight against COVID-19 and provides the resources necessary to do so.
"I make sure everybody has the resources they need to fight COVID, make sure that the care is appropriate, and make sure we follow the playbook," said Liepke. "I make the playbook, and everybody has to follow it, make sure we have the same definition, and that everyone is doing what it says."
U.S. Army Capt. David Shahbodaghi, a medical doctor assigned to the 3rd Medical Command, is leading the fight against COVID-19 for U.S. service members at Eskan Village in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"We've taken maximal procedures," said Shahbodaghi. "We have basically put in place pretty aggressive social distancing," said Shahbodaghi. "So, we've spaced out the work shift, spaced out the work teams that are on shift, and offset the work schedules."
Shahbodaghi also said they have made it mandatory for personnel to don a mask when-ever people are out with other people in public or a public building or office.
COVID-19 restrictions and the resulting changes to how operations are conducted have even affected work with key leaders in the KSA.
"We have limited the contact with the host nation, which is part of the main job of the program partners here," said Shahbodaghi. "We've limited that to mission-critical only."
Across U.S. Army Central, all Task Force Spartan medical teams have developed and conducted thorough screenings quarantine procedures.
"We've also put in place a pretty aggressive screening process where we test folks fairly regularly, that are at high risk for COVID," said Shahbodaghi.
Shahbodaghi also added that anytime anyone comes from outside KSA, they go into a 14-day controlled quarantine.
In Jordan, U.S Army Maj. Julie Valenza, a physician assistant with the 42nd Infantry Divi-sion and assigned as the ASG-Jordan surgeon cell, also works to slow the spread of the disease.
"The COVID situation in Jordan has been interesting as there were very few
cases throughout the country since the beginning of the pandemic." said Valenza. The fact that the country closed its borders to all incoming traffic and tested truck drivers at the borders, sig-nificantly limited the spread of disease, she added.
ASG-Jordan also follows the quarantine procedures put out by the Department of De-fense.
"Until recently, everyone entering the country, regardless of previous quarantine was re-quired to complete 14-day quarantine," said Valenza. "While in quarantine, cohorts remain together for meals and gym time, as well as housing, and everyone wears masks while online or if unable to maintain 6 feet of distance between each other."
Now, service members coming into Jordan can continue to their mission without going through quarantine if they are validated for going through quarantine before traveling.
"Currently, we have a quarantine validation process approval for those service members who have completed quarantine immediately before entering the country," said Valenza. "Once validated, those service members can continue to their final destination to complete their mission. All locations still require the wear of masks while standing in lines or unable to maintain 6 feet of distance between each other."
In other places like Camp Buehring, Kuwait, U.S Army Col. Jon DuBose, the Brigade Surgeon of the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team, claimed to have acted fast to prevent COVID from coming on his post.
"Even before CENTCOM put it in our set orders, we saw the writing on the wall," said Dubose. "The first thing that we did months ago was we started preparation for quarantine and isolation."
DuBose also said they made sure his team was trained to recognize the signs and symp-toms of COVID-19 along with the proper wear of personal protective gear and appropriate care for COVID-19 positive patients or those suspected of having COVID-19.
There are two methods for separating those Soldiers who are being affected by COVID-19. Isolation and quarantine.
"Isolation is for the person who you suspect has COVID," said DuBose. "It's the Soldier who shows up who has lost their taste and sense of smell. Somebody who has a high predictive rate of actually having the disease."
Whether you are in KSA, Jordan or Kuwait, if placed in isolation, patients can expect to see a doctor more frequently.
"Isolation requires more services," said DuBose. "So, you have to check bottles more fre-quently. In isolation, a physician actually does rounds on you twice a day."
Unlike isolation, quarantine is reserved for people who have come in contact with those who have tested positive for COVID-19 or those who haven't adequately quarantined before entering the theater.
According to DuBose, there are two types of quarantines, medical and operational.
"You have medical quarantine, which means that as a person who's been in contact or is felt to be at risk for having COVID, but the risk is moderate, to low," said DuBose. "This is somebody who might have been around a person who actually ended up testing positive for COVID."
As for operational quarantine, DuBose said, "this is for people who are coming from countries in which there is an outbreak in which these personnel exhibit no signs or symptoms. They're felt to be a risk to the rest of the population on base."
Regardless of your location, DuBose says rapid testing results are the key to staying ahead of COVID-19.
"Because the timeframe that somebody is walking around spreading disease without you knowing whether they have it is too lengthy, the first part is actually having the equipment and all the attendant materials that actually test somebody for COVID-19," said DuBose. "If you don't have the ability to get a test result back for COVID within 24 or 48 hours, you're going to put people at risk because you'll never get control of it."
Additionally, the Doctors ask that Soldiers follow the guidelines pushed out by the Cen-ter for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The next thing was just the enforcement of the guidelines as recommended by the CDC in regard to social distancing, mask-wearing and hand hygiene," said DuBose. "It's key that we protect our military members."
According to DuBose, even though COVID-19 may not see a vaccination shortly, there is still hope in fighting it.
"You're not going to cure COVID," said DuBose. "This is the disease that is going to make its way around the world until it basically burns out. So, when people say they're going to stop COVID, you're not going to stop COVID. The key is controlling it. As long as you keep it under control, you'll be fine. "
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2020 02:04 |
| Story ID: | 375289 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 461 |
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This work, Spartan Doctors Continue to Fight Against COVID-19, by SSG Andrew Valenza, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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