WANGNOI DISTRICT, Thailand - U.S. Navy and Royal Thai Army medical personnel, in a coordinate effort, provided medical and dental care to members of the local community here, Feb 2.
Members of the 3rd Medical Battalion, U.S. Navy, and Royal Thai Army, conducted the medical and dental civic action project preceding Exercise Cobra Gold 2012.
To facilitate the medical and dental care given to the surrounding community, medical clinics were set up and over 200 people received care that had not been given in the past months due to extreme flooding causing limited access.
Medical civic action projects also took place in Nakhornphathom and Lop Buri province. The sites were selected by the Royal Thai government due to recent flooding caused by monsoon rains during October of 2011.
“The severe flooding that affected most of this region limited the access of healthcare to many who live here,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Jeff Hertz, officer in charge of medical stability operations. “Combined military medical missions are extremely important for interoperability and this training will increase our ability to respond and provide care for a large population who has been affected by other natural disasters.”
The Royal Thai Army played an important role by transporting students from the Wangnoi Wittayapoom School to locations necessary for dental care to be given.
Teeranan Pongkanprasert, a teacher at Wangnoi Wittayapoom School, was very grateful this opportunity was available for her students.
“I was very impressed by the level of care,” said Pongkanprasert.
Exercise Cobra Gold is a Thai and U.S. co-sponsored multinational, multiservice exercise that includes forces from Singapore, Japan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and representatives from other countries in the region.