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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (6/5/2012) – The Oklahoma City
Bombings in 1995 brought devastation, fear, and death, but through
the rubble an Air Force Security Forces officer found his calling in
life – to be a doctor.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Roy Johnson, Craig
Joint-Theater Hospital flight commander for the emergency room
department, checks in on patients that have been wounded, Bagram Air
Field, Afghanistan, June 1, 2012. This is Johnson's second
deployment overseas. The Higginsville, Mo. native was previously
deployed to Iraq. Deployed from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,
Ohio. CJTH is one of the largest and best-equipped trauma facilities
in Afghanistan. Photo by Staff Sgt. Clay Lancaster |
Dr. (Maj.) Roy Johnson, Craig Joint-Theater Hospital flight
commander for the emergency room department here was a police escort
for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He remembered a doctor
who was giving on-site medical care.
“I was in such awe of
the doctor,” he said. “All I could think is that this doctor gets to
travel around and help people in need. I wanted to help people in a
more hands-on way.”
So after seven years as a cop, Johnson
made the switch to become a doctor.
“I loved being a cop, but
it's not the same as being a doctor,” said the Higginsville, Mo.,
native. “I will always have a soft spot for my cops though.”
There is not a typical day for an ER doctor, said Johnson, who
is deployed from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
“When patients come in, I don't really know what service they are
from,” he
continued. “I treat each case as the worst case scenario.”
Patients come into CJTH any way they can get here,
whether that is helicopter or a fixed wing. CJTH is one of
the largest and best-equipped trauma facilities in
Afghanistan.
Working as an ER doctor, Johnson said it
reminds him of his boxing days at the United States Air
Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. He compared it to,
“Being nervous before that first punch is thrown.”
“You walk into the ER, and it's game on,” he continued.
“There is a little bit of nervousness when I walk in, but I
think it is a healthy dose of fear, which is needed to be an
effective doctor. A person who's not afraid is probably
overconfident and is going to make a mistake.”
His
colleagues and airmen realize the passion he puts into his
job.
“Doctor Johnson is very thorough in his work,” said
Staff Sgt. Demorris Byrd, CJTH ER medical technician, who is
deployed from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. “He likes to
teach and really goes over it if you don't understand. He
will always explain why he did it the way he did.”
He
used to be a cop too, so he is straight forward and doesn't
put up with any nonsense, Byrd continued. He still has that
cop mentality as a doctor, which definitely works.
“He is the best doctor here,” he said.
But Byrd
might be a little biased. The pair has worked together three
times. They were deployed together in Iraq and worked
together in Texas.
The Air Force veteran doesn't know
any life but the military. His father was in the Air Force
for 31 years and retired as a chief master sergeant.
Johnson is so used to the military lifestyle that, if he
had to pick his own clothes each day, he'd be flustered, he
said jokingly. The major wouldn't know what he would do if
he had to wear anything but his uniform.
Although the
doctor has only been here for two months, the list of
patients who stick out in the doctor's mind is long.
A six-year old Afghan child who died in the ER resonates
with him because of his four daughters back at home.
“She was a child,” he sadly said. “She was innocent.”
Johnson also recalled the story about the female medic
he treated in the ER.
“She was peppered in the face
and left arm with shrapnel from an IED blast,” he said. “She
looked at me and said, ‘Doc, when can I go back to my
guys?'”
A flat screen television sits in front of the
ER and on it are the inbound traumas. When a trauma arrives
at CJTH, the hospital becomes one cohesive unit, working
together to save the lives of their patients.
“Everyone flocks to the ER,” Johnson said. ”From the nurses,
X-ray technicians, chaplains, pharmacists...trauma is a team
sport.”
This is Johnson's second deployment overseas.
His was previously deployed to Iraq.
By USAF Sr. Airman Alexandria Mosness
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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