By Chief Petty Officer Jeremy L. Wood
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Imagine living in an isolated area when boiling milk is spilt on your two-year-old daughter’s body and there’s no 9-1-1 emergency operator to take your call. How would you react to your screaming toddler? What thoughts would go through your mind knowing your inactions or incorrect treatment could cause unnecessary pain and suffering?
Accidents occur on a regular basis and can happen to the most experienced parents or to those who know very little about providing initial or follow-on medical care. In fact, the above scenario happened recently to an Afghan family living in one of Afghanistan’s 364 districts and the toddler suffered second-degree burns to her arms and legs.
Fortunately for this family, their daughter was able to be medically evacuated to a Coalition forces medical treatment facility thanks to an Afghan doctor-led medical seminar held June 7-14 in Zabul province.
“The medical seminar, or MEDSEM, is a unique operation designed to improve medical infrastructure and connect patients to their medical officials,” said Col. Donald Bolduc, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan commander. “Equally important, the MEDSEM connects villages to local leadership while enhancing governmental capacity and interoperability.”
More than 220 Afghans from six villages surrounding Naw Bahar district in Zabul seized the opportunity to attend the June MEDSEM and learn how to take better care of themselves and how to handle some potential medical emergencies they may face in their communities. The course graduated 19 first-care response students, and with many of the 29-million-plus Afghans living in remote or isolated areas of the country’s plains and mountains, the MEDSEM is just what the doctor ordered.
The MEDSEM, divided into three phases, is in line with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health’s four-year Community-Based Health Care Policy and Strategy signed in December 2009.
Phase 1 begins with key leader engagements to obtain host nation support. Governmental leaders, medical officials and security personnel are identified and maintained out front. They engage their villages and obtain their support for the event. Phase 1 typically lasts 30-60 days.
During Phase 2, students learn basic health care topics emphasizing preventive medicine and early treatment by Afghan doctors. Women and children’s health topics comprise the majority of the curriculum. The event culminates with a student and local health official led medical outreach engagement to participating villages. Phase 2 typically lasts for seven days--three to four days of seminar and three days of medical engagements.
Students continue to serve their community during Phase 3. They facilitate visits to their village and provide disease surveillance for the local doctor. Scheduled re-engagement activities enhance this phase. Phase 3’s duration is indefinite and ends with assumption of activities by the MoPH.
“These seminars are facilitated by our Special Operations Forces, but are led and executed by host nation leadership,” said Bolduc. “The Afghan leaders host and coordinate the event, medical officials teach classes and provide care during follow-on medical engagements and host nation military and police provide security.”
During the June MEDSEM, the local physician from Naw Bahar teamed-up with his Kandahar counterpart to conduct the majority of the sessions that included diet, cleanliness and common ailments, with the students playing more of an observational role.
More than 200 Afghan men and 12 women received free medical evaluations during the practical part of the June class and the USSOF provided a female-engagement team to help manage the cultural prohibitions of men interacting with women.
“The first Afghanistan medical seminar took place, March 15-21, in the Shinkay district of Zabul,” said Bolduc. “Initially, villages were reluctant to participate; however, interest in the MEDSEM increased once word spread that the event was Afghan-led.”
This is the second MEDSEM to be held in the province and the third overall since March. Three more are planned in southern Afghanistan in the coming weeks.
In a country that has endured three decades of continuous conflicts, wars and natural disasters, the Afghan people have also battled with infectious diseases—all of which have contributed to their average life expectancy of about 43 for both men and women. Initiatives like the MEDSEM go a long way toward helping the people of Afghanistan live not only a healthier lifestyle, but a longer one too.
| Date Taken: |
06.14.2010 |
| Date Posted: |
06.22.2010 14:36 |
| Story ID: |
51798 |
| Location: |
ZABUL PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: |
189 |
| Downloads: |
137 |
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