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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - A key part of the 455th Air
Expeditionary Wing's mission is providing extraordinary Role 3
medical care here on the combat frontier.
But before a
medical technician can take a patient's vital signs or a surgeon can
operate, they must first have a facility and medical equipment that
is ready to go.
That responsibility falls onto a small team
of Airmen who provide the logistics and facilities management needed
to keep Craig Joint Theater Hospital ready to care for patients.
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U.S. Air Force Maj. Thomas Naughton (left) and Tech. Sgt. Scott
Hatch (right) both assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Medical
Group, stand by the sign to at the main entrance to Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Sept. 24, 2015. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Joseph Swafford)
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“We're the backbone to make the hospital go. We're the
support side of things; we make sure the clinicians have all
the things they need and that the facility is functional and
in good condition so the providers can come in and focus on
their duty,” said Maj. Thomas Naughton, 455th Expeditionary
Medical Group hospital administrator for CJTH. “We work
daily on repairs and maintenance to make sure services are
available when needed. We're a 24/7 operation and regardless
of how a patient comes to the clinic – whether it's medevac,
aeromedical evacuation, driven to the emergency department
or patients walk in – the hospital is ready to go to provide
patient care.”
As the hospital administrator,
Naughton said his responsibilities include overseeing the
logistics section that provides the maintenance and supplies
to keep the hospital working, as well as handle
administrative duties to process the reports needed for
higher headquarters. Some of his other duties include
supporting manpower assessments and medical planning
requirements needed during the drawdown.
One of the
three Airmen keeping CJTH up and running is Tech. Sgt. Scott
Hatch, 455th EMDG biomedical equipment technician and
facility manager, who ensures the clinic has the utilities,
power, oxygen and supplies to operate.
“We make sure
the staff has the equipment that they need and the facility
is ready to support the mission,” said Hatch. “Our
physicians are capable of working in any environment, but
the specific capabilities CJTH provides is a stable platform
for advanced medical care. The facility management team has
to make sure the facility is ready to treat patients at all
times.”
In a combat zone like Afghanistan, the
facility manager also plays a key role in guaranteeing the
facility is good to go during or after attacks.
“If
something happened during an IDF (indirect fire) attack, I'd
coordinate with first responders, contractors and all the
other agencies on Bagram to get the facility back up and
running so we can keep doing our mission,” said Hatch. “My
job as a facility manager is to make sure the facility is in
intact.”
Part of making sure the CJTH is able to
execute its Role 3 mission is making sure the equipment and
supplies are ready.
“Over the course of a year, we
have over 2,000 pieces of equipment that we'll do preventive
maintenance on. Everything from thermometers to the CT
scanner, which is a vital piece of equipment for us to
maintain a 98 percent survival rate of injured patients who
come into the hospital,” said Hatch.
For a hospital
to get a Role 3 rating, it must be able to provide advanced
surgical services and in-patient bed care. A Role 4 hospital
provides rehabilitative services.
“We have the
ability to provide surgical services and an intensive care
unit that we can house patients in for post-surgery
recovery. We also have a ward where we can have patients
stay for various amounts of time before they need to be
transferred,” said Naughton. “A big part of Bagram is our
aeromedical evacuation mission; we keep patients here until
they are healthy enough for transportation to the next level
of care like Landstuhl (Regional Medical Center), which is a
Role 4 hospital.”
According to Naughton, Hatch and
his team have been a part of some big successes to keep
patient care moving forward.
“There were a few times
when maintenance issues came up in the middle of a mass
casualty event and they made repairs on the fly,” said
Naughton. “They got the repairs done quickly and got the
doctors their equipment so they could continue to provide
care.”
Naughton said it would take some time to
highlight the great things done by Hatch and his team.
“Sergeant Hatch has done a great job here. It would take
me an hour to walk around with you to show you all the
improvements he has done to make this a better facility.
We're aren't just focused on making sure the facility is
maintained and ready to go at a moment's notice, but also
drawing down,” said Naughton. “We've had a lot of victories
in removing unneeded or excess materiel or transferring
equipment to meet retrograde requirements. We are balancing
all of that and still meeting Role 3 capabilities.”
According to Naughton and Hatch, it was rewarding to be a
part of the mission to provide extraordinary Role 3 medical
care here.
“For me, it's rewarding to be here and be
part of this mission. I get to see the impact of my work,”
said Hatch. “You see patients come into the facility, go
into the operating room, see them in the ward a few days
later and then see them transported to Germany by the AE
team. It's humbling and amazing to be a part of this.”
“I love the mission and being here. We get to help
people with life, limb and eyesight medical care,” said
Naughton. “As support personnel, we get to see the medical
operations as providers seamlessly care for patients. I like
that I get to see patients come in, see the amazing things
our medical providers do and then get the patients moved on
to higher echelons of care.”
By U.S. Air Force Maj. Tony Wickman
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2015
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