U.S. Air Force Medical Team Assist Denver Health

Photo By Staff Sgt. Tiffany Banks | DENVER, Colo. — U.S. Air Force medical personnel assigned to 60th Medical Group, pose for a photo at the Frederico F. Pena Southwest Family Health Center in Denver, Colorado, Dec. 10, 2021. The Airmen are deployed from California in support of the continued Department of Defense COVID response operations in order to help communities in need. U.S. Northern Command, through the U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing flexible Department of Defense support to the whole-of-government COVID response. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Tiffany Banks)  

DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES

12.14.2021

Story by Spc. Tiffany Banks 

Defense Department Support to FEMA COVID-19       

DENVER, Colo. — The Department of Defense recently deployed medical personnel to assist in the administration of intravenous infusions of monoclonal antibodies to patients at the Frederico F. Pena Southwest Family Health Center in Denver, Colorado.

U.S. Northern Command, through the U.S. Army North, remains committed to providing flexible Department of Defense support to the whole-of-government COVID response. The five U.S. Air Force personnel supporting the health center, are originally assigned to 60th Medical Group out of Travis Air Force Base in California.

“The Air Force has trained us 100 percent,” says U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Zachariah Bingham, a registered nurse. “We’ll take what the Denver health system has to give us and we’ll incorporate the skills we already have and we’ll just succeed at the mission here.”

The Denver metro area has a high demand for COVID-care and the medical facilities were struggling to support the volume of patients needing treatment.

“We’re doing about 100 infusions of antibodies to the local community a week,” says Sarah Gardiner, a nursing program manager at the Denver Health Center. “We’re getting about 500 positive tests a day in Denver. The goal with adding this team, is that we can increase capacity to about 350 to 400 a week in this area.”

The DoD’s additional medical support consists of two registered nurses, two medical technicians and a medical administrator. The medical support provided by the DoD is slated to continue for the rest of the year and into early January.

“We are definitely excited to be here in support of a [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] mission, and obviously supporting the people of Colorado,” says Bingham.

This mission is part of the continued DoD COVID response operations across the nation, in order to help communities in need.

“Sometimes you’re out here in the community-in a small clinic-and you’re like, ‘no one cares, right?’ For the Department of Defense to deploy a team to support this little space of Colorado, feels good.” says Gardiner. “I hope that it helps the nurses feel like they’re a part of something bigger that maybe they can’t see on their own, so I’m grateful for that.”

• Date Taken: 12.14.2021
• Date Posted: 12.15.2021 10:37
• Story ID: 411125
• Location: DENVER, CO, US