by Petty Officer 1st Class Russell C. Tafuri
Medical Task Force-Kuwait Public Affairs Office
SOUTHWEST ASIA (November 15, 2006) --- The only military hospital serving the medical needs of the U.S. military, coalition forces and Department of Defense civilians is housed in tents in the Kuwaiti desert. Located at Camp Arifjan, the Expeditionary Medical Facility- Kuwait is similar to any community hospital back in the states, said EMF-K Director of Professional Services, Navy Capt. David Llewellyn.
The hospital is manned by a staff of approximately 200 Navy medical professionals that includes, doctors, nurses and hospital corpsmen from 26 naval commands across the globe. EMF-K is the respite that serves the medical needs of our servicemembers. The 44-bed Level III medical facility is accessible by ground ambulance and helicopter, and due to its location in Kuwait, it also receives patients from Iraq and
Afghanistan as well, said Llewellyn.
The levels of care services provided dictate the level assigned the facility. The level grades range from Level I to Level V. Level I is the care administered by the medic at the site. Level V is the big hospital back home like the Navy's Bethesda National Naval Medical Center or the Army's Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Llewellyn explained.
Although the EMF-K hospital is in a structure that can be relocated, it provides services ranging from inpatient care and critical care to internal medicine and mental health, as well as many others – much like a community hospital in the United States. The hospital also houses two fully equipped operating rooms where operation procedures are performed regularly.
"On any given week we'll receive 20 to 40 patients in this hospital, and we'll perform 20 to 30 operational procedures a week," said Llewellyn.
Aside from the unique semi-permanent structure of the hospital, Llewellyn said the staff boasts a patient return-to-duty rate of more than 75 percent. The hospital maintains the capability to receive and care for patients for up to 30 days with the Theater Transient Hold Detachment. The detachment allows servicemembers to recover and receive additional care before being returned to their unit. Servicemembers can remain there for up to 30 days and then be transported out to a higher level care facility if that is what they need, or returned to their unit, said Llewellyn.
According to EMF-K hospital Director of Education and Training Lt. Cdr. Mark Watson, "Compared to a level III hospital back in the states [the EMF-K hospital is] very similar. We offer a lot of the same services. And even though we are [working] in a tent hospital, you kind of get over that real quick and almost can forget about that. I guess you just get used to it, and plug along."
When asked how a loved one in the United States can grasp that their Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine is in good hands in terms of receiving the medical care they need, Watson quickly said, "...the same people who are working in the hospitals in the states are working here, so we bring the same level of expertise, the same level of compassion, and the same level of care to the patients out here. Whether we're working in a tent or a (solid) structure, it doesn't matter.
"...the expertise, years of experience and the level of compassion and care is on par with anywhere I've ever been."