Photo By Master Sgt. Gary Witte | Capt. Yancy W. Caruthers of HHC 3rd COSCOM, talks to Iraqi doctors. Caruthers...... read more read more
by Sgt. Gary Witte
210th MPAD
BALAD, IRAQ – The patients didn't seem to care about the boxes of books or the Soldiers carrying them. Even as the group of Iraqi doctors eagerly waited to see what was being provided, a woman with a crying boy came in the doorway and beckoned for a physician's attention.
The books may mean more to the future of Balad General Hospital and the future care of its patients than they know.
Capt. Yancy W. Caruthers, a Reserve Soldier, is familiar with the urgent needs of hospitals. While in Iraq, he works as the assistant medical plans officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Company of 3rd Corps Support Command. In his civilian life in Missouri, he works as an emergency room nurse and a police officer.
His efforts led to the stateside donation of more than 500 up-to-date medical books and the latest professional journals to the civilian physicians at Balad Hospital. The latest shipment, delivered on July 25, served as a starting point for discussions between U.S. troops and hospital administrators about the need for future assistance.
"I hope more will come of this," Caruthers said. "The better relationship we can have with the Iraqi medical system, the easier it will be to help them build their capability."
The books, providing the latest information on how to better care for patients, are a change from the older texts Iraqi civilian doctors are normally forced to rely on.
"We need medical materials. We need medical equipment," one Iraqi surgeon said as Soldiers from the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion and B Co., 1-8th Combined Arms Battalion carried the boxes of books into the hospital's library. "This will help us a lot. Every couple of years the strategy of medicine changes. The strategy of treatment changes."
Caruthers said he began his efforts soon after arriving in Iraq last year. He discovered that while Iraqi doctors learn their profession in English, they had neither the funds nor the access to get new medical works.
Basing his efforts on similar programs elsewhere in Iraq, Caruthers worked with his hometown hospital, the Osarks Medical Center, to organize an effort by American doctors to donate reference materials.
The first round brought 20 boxes of books, many used, yet still more current than what the doctors had. Caruthers said he was pleased with the shipment delivered to the Balad Hospital in March, but never expected a followup delivery.
And even when it became clear that the American doctors were willing to do more, he said he didn't expect the second shipment to be as large as the first. Instead, the American doctors purchased hundreds of new books, with subjects ranging from pediatrics to gerontology, nearly equaling the size of the original effort.
One doctor from West Plains, Mo., donated his entire reference collection, Caruthers said. Doctors also sought out specific texts based on requests put in by their Iraqi counterparts. Another doctor provided more than a half-dozen 2006 Physician's Desk Reference brand-new on compact disc.
"The Iraqi doctors love that," Caruthers said of the new materials. "They feel like they have a peer-to-peer relationship."
Capt. Anthony D. Coppola, B Co., 404th Civil Affairs Batt., met with the civilian administrators after the donation and discussed the continuing relationship between Logistical Support Area Anaconda and Balad General Hospital.
"The hospital needs to be brought up to a point where they can care for Iraqi Soldiers when they are seriously wounded," he said afterwards. "The biggest thing we need to work on is the proces.
The hardest part about the Army mission right now is getting the overall populace to use their government."
Coppola said the medical books program is a good example of efforts that can help the community.
"I think we need a lot more great ideas like that," he said, noting that those with ideas to assist the Iraqi populace should talk to 3rd COSCOM operations before attempting to implement them.
Caruthers will soon have to continue his program on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. He is scheduled to go home in September. "I'm going to try to keep it alive on that end," he said.
Although his chosen careers are focused on helping people, his deployment to Iraq has made him want to do even more to impact others' lives.
"You don't want to be content to be an observer in life," Caruthers said. "Sometimes people feel they can't do something that matters. That's not true at all."
| Date Taken: | 08.21.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 08.21.2006 11:19 |
| Story ID: | 7510 |
| Location: | BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 68 |
| Downloads: | 23 |
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