Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Jeffrey Schultze | Staff Sgt. Michael Davis, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Support Group Public Health...... read more read more
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SALAH AD DIN, Iraq - The 332nd EMDG Public Health flight is different because their mission involves taking care of the population at large at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.
“Our mission is to prevent disease, disability and premature death,” said Maj. Kristi Wiechert, 332nd EMDG Public Health flight chief, who is deployed from Andrews Air Force Base, Md. “The most perishable weapon system is the human weapon system.”
Everyone who arrives at JBB helps the flight during in-processing, when medical records are checked for immunizations. These same records are checked again before departing JBB to ensure no one leaves the theater sick.
The flight maintains records of disease non-battle injuries.
“DNBI includes things like a sprained ankle or the flu, anything that is not from bullets or a bomb blast,” said Wiechert, who is a native of Lake City, Ark.
As the drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq continues, there will be fewer amenities available, which may pose some challenges for the flight.
“More people in close contact can cause health hazards, which can degrade the mission, so we will be conducting more facility inspections,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Davis, who is deployed from Lackland AFB, Texas.
The flight inspects all facilities that serve food, as well as public facilities, such as fitness and recreation centers.
“Our bioenvironmental team checks to make sure the water supply is safe, and we make sure the kitchen has the door and freezer doors locked so no one can tamper with the food,” said Davis, who is originally from Oklahoma City.
The flight also inspects facilities that are closing down to ensure no food is left behind that could attract rodents, which would pose a health hazards for JBB inhabitants.
“I like that there’s such a broad range, because I get to do something different every day,” said Davis. “My job’s broadness is also what makes my job most challenging.”
Davis explained that, for example, if someone gets sick, the flight has to investigate how the patient got sick, where the patient last ate, what the patient ate, so the flight is always digging to get to the bottom of an issue.
“We try our best to keep patients out of the clinic through surveillance and intervene any way we can to keep the population safe,” said Wiechert.
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.19.2011 04:13 |
| Story ID: | 75607 |
| Location: | SALAH AD DIN, IQ |
| Web Views: | 120 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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