US, Kyrgyz military medics hold EMT information exchange

Published Aug. 27, 2011
By Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore
376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan -- American and Kyrgyz service members gathered for a two-week medical information exchange at the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Services Aug. 15-25.

Soldiers and Airmen from the Montana National Guard led the military cooperation exchange covering basic emergency medical technician skills.

This is the first time most of the guardsmen have been to Kyrgyzstan. However, the team leader, Army Master Sgt. James Kelly has years of experience working with Kyrgyz medical service members.

"I have been working with the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek since 2007," said the Montana Medical Command senior medic. "I've been here three times this year. I'm very fortunate to come here in a medical (capacity) and work with the Kyrgyz medics."

The interactive military exchange provided an opportunity for the American and Kyrgyz service members to discuss similarities and differences in their medical response systems.

"This exchange was an excellent illustration of the teamwork between the Montana National Guard and the Transit Center," said Master Sgt. Gregory Nicodemus, Theater Security Cooperation Military-to-Military Cooperation Branch. "We hope to continue the joint efforts as a unified partner with Kyrgyz military medical institutions."

A variety of subject matter experts, both American and Kyrgyz, participated in the exchange. Lt. Col. (Dr.) Cecilia Garin, 376th Expeditionary Medical Group dental services chief, provided a presentation to the group.

"I covered the basics of infection control and a little bit on the pre-hopsitial setting," said the doctor deployed to the Transit Center at Manas from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.

At the end of her presentation audience members asked numerous questions.

"It was more than I expected," she said. "They asked about regulations and what kinds of infections are most prevalent."

One of the audience members, who seemed to be soaking in every word, was Kyrgyz Warrant Officer Behepa Morpcakmatoba who works at the National Rescue Training Center. Morpcakmatoba, participated in a medical information exchange in 2009, took pages of notes during the exchange.

"It is all good, this whole two weeks we have had," she said. "We've learned a lot and we have also shown our knowledge. I wrote everything down. I hope we have more of these exchanges in the future."

The audience included military nurses, ambulance drivers, rescuers and even a soldier a year away from completing his medical degree.

"The interaction has been outstanding," said Tech. Sgt. Nick Bradford, Montana Air National Guard medical technician. "I have seen the entire group actively participate in all of the topics covered. Every subject, no matter who was offering it, them or us, was accompanied with long question answer periods and people sharing experiences."

Despite, sharing a common language, these medical professionals were able to come together to bolster relationships and familiarize one another's emergency medical techniques.

"Medicine is medicine," Kelly said. "It is the same around the world -- different people have different levels of expertise, different equipment and different availability to that equipment -- but medicine is medicine."