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380AEW Article

Managing force health

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mike Andriacco
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The health and preventive maintenance of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing fleet falls on maintenance squadrons, but for the health of those Airmen, the 380th Expeditionary Medical Group's Public Health Flight handles that.

In the history of war, disease and non-battle injuries typically outpaced battle injuries as the cause of death to service members. According to a document published by U.S. Army Col. Benjamin Withers, Command Surgeon, U.S. Army Materiel Command and Col. Stephen Craig, the Chief of the Preventive Medicine Service at Keller Army Community Hospital, that all changed in World War II with advances in preventive and curative medicine.

Today, maintaining preventive medicine practices is the specialty of Public Health. They are responsible for ensuring that all public areas, food service functions and support facilities are operating in a safe and healthy manner, while also reducing the risk and spread of disease that can be brought on in a variety of conditions.

This two-person office covers a vast array of responsibilities, each one contributing uniquely to the task of keeping the Airmen and Soldiers of the 380th ready to fly the tasking order every day.

"Prevention is the key of what Public Health is here for," said Maj. Bernadette Steele, the 380th EMDG chief of Public Health. "The single most effective method of preventing disease here is hygiene. Hand washing and sanitizing is key."

Tech. Sgt. Adrian Riles, a 380th EMDG Public Health technician, has briefed more than 1,800 Airman and Soldiers as they transitioned into the wing on how to prevent disease and ensure they are able to fulfill their role in the mission.

The Public Health flight personnel also conduct frequent inspections of the food service areas including the dry goods storage area, cold storage, preparation areas and serving lines. They check for expired goods, sealed containers, proper cold and cooking temperatures and on the serving lines, the proper hot temperatures.

Public Health's responsibilities do not end with monitoring food service, however. They also run the local medical intelligence mission.

"The main goal of Medical intelligence on a day to day basis is to prepare upcoming deployed personnel for the environment in which they will be working," said Major Steele. "This covers everything from warning them of dangerous flora and fauna to figuring out which immunizations are necessary and any other medications they may need for the region."

"It's basically the same as a regular intel briefing on risks and threats in an area but more medically focused," she added.

Through attention to detail, trend analysis and subject matter expertise, Major Steele and Sergeant Riles are able to identify disease spikes or outbreaks in units and take steps to mitigate the negative impact on the mission.

"If we were to identify that a particular unit's members were seen more frequently than other unit's that would signify a potential trend that we want to avoid," said Major Steele. "We have the capability and knowledge to perform an assessment on the work and living areas for the Airmen and determine what may be causing it. From there, it is just a matter of making recommendations as to what the unit can do to stop the spread of disease before it becomes a larger problem for the base and compromises the mission."

As long as Airmen are deploying to hostile environments where they will be exposed to illnesses and health risks, Public Health will be there to prepare them, help them through, and get them safely back to their families after the mission is finished.