View allAll Photos Tagged maxillofacial
This picture is #37 in the 100 Strangers Project - Round 3
Meet Marie
Another much-delayed post from many weeks ago - of a stranger encounter on the streets of Bethesda, MD. I met beautiful Marie soon after I photographed Ghazal which made it a great day with two wonderful encounters within an hour.
Marie was walking with her husband when I first saw them - but they seemed a little busy so I waited for a bit before crossing across the street as they were walking the parking lot and made my request. The couple was indeed extremely friendly and after a few more inquiries and consultation with her husband Marie agreed to be photographed.
As I readied to photograph Marie I also had a few quick minutes to ask them some questions. I learned that Marie and Mustafa hail from Iran - though they live around Maryland and Florida. They both are from the medical profession - Mustafa is a dentist while Marie is a surgeon specializing in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery which she explained is a surgical specialty involving both medical school and dental school and specializing in the area of the head and neck.
She loves spending time with her husband and looks forward eagerly for him to arrive from Florida each time, where he practices. One quality she loves about herself - "she is a nice person" - seemed very apparent in our limited interaction. I also did a couple of pictures with them together - they looked too good together to resist.
It was wonderful meeting you, Marie. Indeed a pleasure making your acquaintance and photographing you in this random encounter - special thanks to Mustafa for his patience and encouragement and help making you smile. All the very best for the future.
Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
For my other pictures on this project: 100 Strangers - Round 2.
For pictures from my prior attempt at 100 Strangers: 100 Strangers - Round 1.
A mentally disturbed homeless man talking loudly to himself left this scene behind a dental office. I took photographs over the chain-link fence that separates my apartment complex from the dental office. I backed away and out of his sight when I heard him returning, carrying a bucket.
Yes, that is a squirrel feeder.
37 minutes before sunset.
Located in Zhong-shan (Sun Yat-sen) square （中山广场）in Shenyang （沈阳）, China, surrounded by the sculptures of his followers, this monument of Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) was built during "Culture Revolution" (initiated by Mao, occurred in 1966 - 1976), one of the worst (also most bloody) political, economical and humanitarian disasters (against their fellow citizens, their own culture and history) in the history of China. This one should be one of the three tallest Mao's monuments built during that time. This one is also one of a few that are being preserved. Numerous similar but shorter monuments were built as well. The background building on the left (with 12 Chinese characters in red fond on top of the building) is an dental and maxillofacial surgery hospital, one of the teaching hospitals in the medical university I graduated from. The background building on the right is the headquarter of Shenyang's Workers Union General (沈阳市总工会）which in reality has nothing to do with protecting workers' rights. All other background buildings are the banks.
West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
For those following the continuing saga… my son's second surgery was yesterday and he came through fine. This time the maxillofacial-oral surgeon actually had done over a thousand similar procedures, whereas last time (on an ER basis) the plastic surgeon had only done one. Kip's condition was far worse than they imagined it was, over four months in, but they apparently did this time what should have been done before. He will remain in the hospital long enough to determine whether they've identified and are treating all the bugs. There remains the possibility of a super bug, but we are hopeful not. Thank you, all of you, who have kept us in your thoughts. I WILL be back to Flickr eventually.
Update. Good surgery but bad super bug on board, apparently got in hospital. Will be following protocol from infectious disease doctor for the next six weeks. Wash your hands often. This stuff is really bad.
My biggest hard on for equipment has always been for the HGU-56/P Maxillofacial Shield. Since I saw minifig.cat makes em I just had to get me one. Expect me to make more figures with this helmet, such as Guns from Ace Combat.
This patient was not using a helmet.. Extensive facial and mandibular fractures are present. The patient has an endotracheal tube, and a orogastric suction tube.
The vertex (top) and posterior skull are not damaged. These portions were excluded in the initial scan and appear as though they are missing on the 3D rendering.
West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
A mutilated French soldier after WW I
Gueules cassées (broken faces)[1] is a French expression for facially disfigured servicemen which originated in World War I. Colonel Yves Picot is said to have coined the term when he was refused entry to a gathering for the war-disabled.[1][2]
Contents
1Background
2Gueules cassées
3In film
4External links
5References
Background[edit]
Trench warfare protected the bodies but left the heads exposed.[3] The introduction of the steel helmet in 1915 made head shots more 'survivable', but this reduction of mortality meant a mutilated life for thousands.[1]
At the start of the war those wounded to the head were generally not considered able to survive and they would not usually be 'helped first'.[4] This changed in the course of the war, as progress was made in medical practices like oral and maxillofacial surgery and most notably in the new field of plastic surgery.[5] Surgeons conducted experiments with bone, cartilage and tissue transplants and the likes of Hippolyte Morestin, Harold Gillies and Léon Dufourmentel made enormous advances.[3] Because of the experimental character of this surgery some chose to remain as they were and others could just not be helped yet.[4] Some of the latter were helped by all kinds of new prosthetics to make them look more or less 'normal'.[6]
Gueules cassées[edit]
An estimated 4.2 million French were wounded, 300,000 of whom were classified as 'mutilated'. Of those some 15,000 can be called gueules cassées.[7] Right after the war those facially disfigured were not considered war veterans and exempt from support and veteran's benefits, but that changed later. In 1921 the Union des Blessés de la Face et de la tête (association of the wounded to the face and the head) was formed. The Colonel Picot mentioned above was one of its founders and a later president of the association.[1] It still exists, currently under the name Gueules Cassées with, considering the mutilations, the somewhat sour slogan sourire quand même ("smiling nonetheless").
In film[edit]
J'accuse! (1938), Abel Gance. The film features actual mutilated veterans.
Johnny Got His Gun (1971), Dalton Trumbo
The Officers' Ward (2001), François Dupeyron
See You Up There (2017), Albert Dupontel
External links[edit]
(in French) Website of the association
Broken gargoyles, article in The Guardian about much the same thing among Australian veterans
"Facing the Faceless: Erased Face as a Figure of Aesthetic and Historical Experience", a scholarly article about the phenomenon of disfiguration in art and literature and in relation to "gueules cassées". See Jirsa, Tomáš. Czech and Slovak Journal of Humanities, 5 (1), 2015, 104-119.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gueules_cassées
Mutilation and Disfiguration
By Julie Anderson PDF EPUB KINDLE Print
The First World War created disfigured and mutilated bodies on a grand scale. Never before had the bodies of soldiers been so devastated by a conflict. Developments in established weapons such as cannons and machine guns, and terrifying innovations such as poison gas, created a relative army of disfigured and mutilated men. Some men lost multiple limbs and sensory organs such as eyes. No part of the body was safe from the potential of severe and life-changing wounds. Owing to new and advanced medical specialities, surgical techniques, and technical innovations, soldiers survived wounds that in previous conflicts might have killed them. Wounds healed, but often bodies were left badly disfigured and mutilated. These men had to manage not only the result of their bodily wounds, but also their emotional trauma and their new role as disabled veterans. For these damaged men, their war was over, but recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration presented a new set of challenges.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Medical Specialities and Specialist Hospitals
3 Amputation
4 Prosthetics
5 Mutilation
6 Plastic surgery
7 Remembering the Disfigured and Mutilated
8 Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Citation
Introduction↑
While war is no stranger to mangled bodies, the First World War was unprecedented as it created a significant number of mutilated and disfigured men, many more than in previous conflicts. This article focuses particularly on the Western Front, a battleground established early in the war, where new forms of weaponry created new types of bodily injury.[1] The siege-style warfare of bombing and shelling on the Western Front meant that significant numbers of men were killed and others badly wounded on the periphery of a direct hit. New developments in weapons such as machine guns and grenades and more frightening and mysterious weaponry such as poison gas created an unprecedented range of mutilating and disfiguring wounds internally and externally.[2] These innovations in weapons and unspecific targeting circumvented the basic personal safety equipment provided to the fighting men, such as helmets and gas masks, and wreaked havoc on the body. No part of the soldier’s body was safe. Limbs were shattered by shrapnel and needed to be amputated to save patients’ lives. Gas blistered lungs and caused lifelong breathing difficulties and blindness. Gunshot wounds left random scars on bodies, a permanent reminder of war. The nature of trench warfare on the Western Front meant that faces were particularly vulnerable to gunshot wounds. Repairing faces presented a challenge to the medical profession and exposed a new type of visual horror.
Since Joanna Bourke’s seminal book Dismembering the Male was published in 1996, there has been a growing interest from historians in the historiography of the impact of war, and its permanent and devastating effects on the body.[3] Wounding is discussed in texts that focus on medical care in the conflict, such as Leo van Bergen’s 1999 book, Before My Helpless Sight.[4] Although van Bergen’s book focussed on wounding in all warring nations on the Western Front, much of the research which followed his book has centred on individual nations. The work which centres on mutilation and disfigurement concentrates on the ways that men with specific wounds were treated in hospitals and rehabilitation centres and, after their demobilisation, the ways in which they negotiated their identity, health, and perceptions of those around them. Ana Carden-Coyne and Jeffrey Reznick have concentrated on Britain; Sabine Kienitz, Heather Perry, and Wolfgang Eckart have examined Germany; Beth Linker has analysed disabled veterans in the United States.[5] There have been few comparative studies except for Deborah Cohen’s study on disabled ex-servicemen’s experiences in Britain and Germany, Marjorie Gehrhardt’s study of facial disfigurement in Britain, France, and Germany and Susanne Michl’s book comparing Germany and France.[6] Sophie Delaporte’s study on the facially disfigured in France is the most specific, as it concentrates on a particular type of wound in one nation.[7] As might be expected, analysis of mutilation and disfigurement has been confined to the largest nations: Britain, France, and Germany, and to a lesser extent the United States, with the exception of Pieter Verstraete and Christine van Everbroeck’s work on Belgian soldiers’ wounds.[8] There remains plenty of scope for historians in the future to analyse the impact of this specific type of wounding, treatment regimens, and reception in other nations.
Medical Specialities and Specialist Hospitals↑
While there are a number of arguments centring on whether or not war advanced medical practice, war certainly led to new techniques and technologies in the field of treating cases of mutilation and disfigurement.[9] Complex war wounds led to collaboration between different medical specialities to repair unprecedented bodily damage.
Two medical specialties in particular developed new techniques to treat the vast numbers of cases of mutilating and disfiguring wounds. The first was orthopaedics. It was already an established medical speciality before the war, but throughout the war techniques were advanced and new technologies developed. Amputation was the most common operation performed by orthopaedic surgeons during the war. Plastic surgery also developed further as a result of the significant number of injuries to the face and head. Specifically concentrating on the face, plastic surgeons painstakingly operated to recreate some semblance of a soldier’s pre-war appearance. Developments in military medicine served to alleviate advances in weapons that caused bodily damage.
Dedicated hospitals and institutions were established to treat these specific wounds. Often, the hurried efforts of surgeons at the front meant that amputee soldiers required further surgical procedures to repair and improve their amputation. Patients also needed time to recover from surgery. Following procedures, a prosthesis needed to be fitted and rehabilitative therapy commenced. In many cases, specialist limb fitters were placed in hospitals to ensure that the soldiers or sailor received the best fitting prosthesis. Specialist hospitals were established as those with amputation required specific types of treatment and rehabilitation was important in order to return amputees to the work force to assist the war effort.
The organisation of hospitals and centres differed nationally. In Britain, the largest hospital for military amputees in England was Roehampton, a short distance outside London, and Erskine Hospital, just outside Glasgow, was the second largest.[10] The hospital facilities also housed limb-fitting workshops, where the amputee soldiers were fitted with their artificial limbs. There were significant numbers of specialist hospitals in Germany. At the hospitals, work therapy or Arbeitstherapie for amputees was the established method of rehabilitation, and a number of centres that focussed on different types of employment were set up for post-convalescence.[11] In most countries, hospitals combined medical care and rehabilitative regimes with the fitting of limbs and training for work. In the United States, two hospitals became centres for orthopaedic care – the Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco and the Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington.[12]
High quality centres for the treatment of facial wounds were established by a number of doctors during the war. In Britain, Harold Gillies (1882-1960) opened a specialist hospital, the Queens Hospital, to treat soldiers with facial wounds. The Dominions, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia provided specialist surgeons for their own soldiers at the hospital in the southeast of England, which by 1918 contained more than a thousand beds.[13] Gillies had originally worked with dentist, Charles Valadier (1873-1931), at the front and they concentrated on a combination of functional repair and the aesthetic of the face. In Paris, Hippolyte Morestin (1869-1919) worked to repair the faces of French soldiers wounded in war. Jacques Joseph (1865-1934) operated at the Charité in Berlin, where he performed plastic surgery on the facially wounded men of the German army. As well as providing specialist surgical treatment, the hospitals in warring nations provided specific kinds of associated therapy. For disfiguring wounds of the face, particular care had to be taken with mental health issues as well as physical restoration.
Amputation↑
Limb amputation was one of the most common practices during the war. Many thousands of limbs were amputated and lives were saved through its use. It is estimated in Germany that the number of amputations totalled 67,000 and 41,000 in Britain.[14] Many soldiers believed that they would rather die than be maimed, yet doctors at the fronts saved many thousands of soldiers through amputation.
Limbs were amputated for a number of reasons. They were often shredded as a result of shrapnel or explosions; machine guns shattered bones in arms or legs. Compound fracture, or one where the bone was shattered and projected through the skin, was a complex wound, and limbs were often amputated.[15] Often there was no bone left to join together, and the threat of complications such as infection meant that performing an amputation was safer for the patient. Environmental conditions increased the number of amputations and not all amputations were the result of traumatic injury. On the Western Front, amputations were conducted in cases of trench foot, caused by poor foot hygiene and immersion in trenches full of water. Furthermore, infection was often a complication in wounds. If gas gangrene affected an arm or leg, further amputations were conducted in order to save the soldier’s life.
Much of the work for orthopaedic surgeons on all sides of the conflict was centred on amputation. Orthopaedic surgeons conducted amputations for centuries, and innovations in anaesthetic, antiseptic use, and a range of surgical techniques improved patient outcomes during the war. Specific methods, care, and surveillance were employed to improve results and survival rates, and these were communicated to other surgeons by senior practitioners. In 1915 in Germany, Fritz Lange (1864-1952) a Munich orthopaedist published a field manual for army doctors. In Kriegs-Orthopädie (War Orthopaedics) he outlined methods to treat and transport patients with shattered limbs.[16] In Britain, Robert Jones (1857-1933), who became Director of Military Orthopaedics published Notes on Military Orthopaedics in 1917.[17] Publications such as these provided less experienced surgeons with guidance on practices and techniques to improve surgical and post-operative outcomes.
Long-held views on surgical treatment were challenged during the First World War. The range of damage to the body was often so extensive that different methods were employed to ensure the patient’s survival. Debridement, where flesh was removed, which was not employed in the early part of the war, was rediscovered and used effectively to prevent complications. The flap amputation, where a piece of skin covered the exposed amputation site, creating a padded area to make a healthy stump, was common in the 19th century and was effectively used during the war.
Surgeons at the front and in hospitals in their home country conducted thousands of amputations, from fingers to legs. Many soldiers endured multiple amputations, as the force of an explosion tore limbs from the body. However, American-born Ethelbert “Curley” Christian (1882-1954) who served in the Canadian army, was thought to be the only soldier to survive having all four of his limbs amputated.
Many surgeons became very skilled in the art of amputation through extensive practice. Surgeons at the front or on-board ships often amputated numbers of patients at a time. Often their hurried procedures left painful nerves exposed or an unsuitable stump so those amputations were tidied up away from the front by hospital surgeons who had more time to perform surgery in less pressured conditions. Some soldiers had four or five re-amputations in order to create a stump suitable for a prosthesis to be fitted.
There was much discussion amongst surgeons about where to amputate. In the First World War, surgeons undertook the practice of limb saving, which meant that they amputated as little of the limb as possible. One of the most important factors for a patient’s successful recovery after amputation was the correct surgical creation of the stump. Irregular stumps often made it difficult for technicians to fit an artificial limb. The stump was a vital component of the body-prosthesis nexus and needed to be surgically well-formed in order to provide a strong basis for the good fit and the best function of the prosthesis.
The stump had to be strong and painless. Many soldiers endured bulbar nerve surgery, as their stumps were sometimes painful due to exposed nerves. While they were in the hospital, many soldiers hardened their stumps by rubbing them with methylated spirits and wrapped them in tight bandages as they were healing. The stump also needed to shrink before it was fitted with a prosthesis. Soldiers learned to use their artificial limbs which often took many months. Early in the war, many soldiers were discharged from hospitals early, as hospitals experienced difficulty coping with the number of amputees. However, lack of instruction in the use of the limb affected soldiers’ stumps and, as one soldier noted, hospitals were full of men requiring treatment for sores on their stumps.[18]
Prosthetics↑
Prostheses were provided for amputee soldiers. New materials and designs were developed, ensuring that amputees were provided with the most advanced artificial limb available. Nations mobilised designers to create prosthetic limbs and a workforce to make them. In Germany, a great deal of effort was put into developing new devices to assist amputees.[19] Owing to their experience in the Civil War, American manufacturers, whose numbers had increased significantly after that conflict, were invited to Britain to share their expertise and develop new prosthetics.[20] For the first time, limb manufacturers worked closely with surgeons, a co-operation between the art of surgery and the craft of limb manufacture and fitting.
In the early part of the war, limb designs were similar to those developed in the 19th century. Heather Perry states that from the beginning of the war, German orthopaedists realised that they would need better prosthetics than were available.[21] Usually, arms and legs were made of wood, although metal was used as the war progressed, and were attached to the body using a range of leather straps and laces. A full leg amputation was often attached with a strap over the shoulder, as wooden prosthetic legs were very heavy. Arms were attached to the body with complicated harnesses, which often made them quite difficult to use.
As there were so many amputees, the pace of production of prosthetics was difficult to maintain throughout the war. One American orthopaedic surgeon estimated in 1915 that French limb makers were only able to manufacture 700 prostheses for the 7,000 amputees that required them.[22] In Britain, some of the 200 American prosthetic limb manufacturers were invited to establish workshops at the Queen Mary’s Limb fitting hospital at Roehampton, just outside London.[23] As many soldiers required prostheses, attempts to improve the speed at which limbs were supplied by making standard parts and fitting them together was adopted. Nevertheless, the number of amputees put pressure on the limb fitter’s ability to make the prosthesis and train the amputees to use their artificial limbs effectively. Limb fitters, surgeons, and disabled soldiers were concerned with three main issues: fit, function and camouflage.
Prosthetic arms were more difficult than legs to produce, as it was problematic to attach arms to the body. A complicated series of leather straps and laces was required, which made an artificial arm heavy and difficult for the wearer to manoeuvre. A range of implements to fit the arm prosthesis were developed, including eating utensils and tools. Small design adjustments made a difference in improving the prosthesis’ usefulness to the soldier. Often, this made the limb aesthetically different, creating an unfamiliar limb and an altered human form. Efforts were made to maintain recognisable physical standards, yet make limbs functional. The Openshaw hand had two little fingers strengthened with metal so that items could be carried. Yet functional limbs were not often very attractive to the public, so attempts were made to hide artificial limbs, particularly outside the work environment. In Germany, the “Sunday arm” was worn when a soldier wanted to disguise his amputation. If the limbs fitted well, functioned properly, and maintained standards of acceptable physiognomy, it was easier to hide the fact that a soldier or sailor wore an artificial limb.
Despite these new innovations, many artificial arms and legs were discarded when the men left hospital and only used on special occasions.[24] Poor fit, a lack of training in their use, and the soldier’s inability to adapt to the limb often meant that prostheses remained unused.
A prosthetic limb was compensation from the state for bodily loss, though some nations rewarded their disabled veterans more comprehensively than others. In addition to pensions, the British government provided a limb to each amputee veteran and by 1925 all amputees from the war were given a second limb as a substitute when a limb went for repair. In the United States, the Office of the Surgeon General effectively mandated the use of artificial limbs, to ensure that amputee veterans “passed” as able-bodied citizens after they were discharged.[25] In Germany, prostheses were provided by the state and centred on a veteran’s ability to work.
Mutilation↑
The bodies of the wounded were mutilated. Skin was cauterised and flayed from the body, burnt and mangled. Gunshot and shrapnel wounds left permanent marks and disfigurement. The skin on men’s trunks and backs was blistered and damaged from gas. Broken limbs could be repaired or removed and skin healed over what were once gaping wounds. But evidence of wounding left indelible marks on the body, which the medical profession could not remove. Moreover, the surgery required to repair injuries and sew skin together left visible scars. Amputation of a limb left a scarred stump. The mutilation of sexual organs was an issue that caused intense physical and psychological trauma, and for which nothing could be done. Wounds to soldiers’ sexual organs are rarely mentioned in the medical literature and there are few figures available on the number of soldiers who suffered this type of injury. In her book The Forbidden Zone, the former nurse Mary Borden (1886-1968) wrote about the level of damage to bodies including “mangled testicles”.[26] Not all disfigurement was external. Gas also caused internal wounds and scarring on the lungs, which caused breathing problems. The extent of the emotional impact of wounding was difficult to measure. The psychological and emotional trauma associated with disfigurement and mutilation went hand-in-hand with physical injury. There were many ways that war wounds affected the body and mind, causing permanent scarring.
Evidence of disability caused through war wounds was often camouflaged. Bodily wounds were hidden by clothing, as with an arm or leg amputation. However, not all scarring could be disguised. One of the more common disfiguring wounds was to the face, and the effects of the damage was difficult to hide. Although surgical techniques developed extensively during the war, some faces were too badly mutilated and the only option was to hide the remaining mutilation. Masking the facially wounded was a way to integrate them into society. Prosthetic appliances for the face were developed before the First World War; in France, silver facial prostheses were developed as early as 1833.[27] During the First World War, new techniques were utilised for those whom surgery could not help. Artists were fundamental in the creation of camouflage of mutilated faces. In Britain, Frances Derwent-Wood (1871-1926) worked in what became known as the “tin noses shop” to create masks for British soldiers. In late 1917, after consultation with Wood, Anna Coleman-Ladd (1878-1939) opened the Studio for Portrait Masks in Paris, administered by the American Red Cross and situated in the city's Latin Quarter. In her workshop in France, Coleman-Ladd made masks for men to wear to hide their disfigured faces and became highly skilled at creating and fitting them.[28] Other artists such as Jane Poupelet (1874-1932) and Robert Wlérick (1882-1944) assisted Coleman-Ladd, and the studio was incorporated into the Vale-de-Grâce military hospital after the war.[29] Made of materials such as tin and enamel, the masks were carefully painted in the patient’s skin tones and correct eye colour to ensure a lifelike appearance. Ladd would take plaster casts of a soldier's face in an attempt to re-create an identical cheekbone or eye-socket on the opposite side. Ladd then crafted a full or partial mask out of copper, which she painted to match the skin while the soldier was wearing it. Of the nearly 3,000 or so French soldiers requiring masks, Ladd made about 185. These partial masks were attached to the face with spectacles or ribbon and provided the wearer the means to cover the parts of their faces that were missing or that contemporary surgical skill did not have the means to repair.
The masks were often uncomfortable to wear as the tin rubbed the face.[30] Many French veterans did not wear their masks, instead preferring to tie a cloth around the disfigured portion of their face.[31] The question remains: were the masks to protect the disfigured servicemen, or for the public who did not want to see the unsettling visage of the mutilated face? Some of the men rarely wore their masks, while other conceived it as an important part of their identity.
In national contexts, the experience of facial wounding differed radically. In Britain, many of those with facial wounds were isolated in hospitals. Conversely, in France, the gueules cassées named themselves as a distinct group of war wounded and established a powerful organisation which represented them.[32]
While many soldiers tried to hide the evidence of mutilation and the disfiguring impact of conflict on their bodies, the medical profession exposed the wounded and their wounds. Mutilation and disfigurement was documented through medical illustrations, paintings, and casts of wounds. Photography was used to chart a patient’s progress and demonstrate the healing process. Generally, these images and objects were used to train new medical personnel. Through this documentation, medical practitioners were able to track the progress of their outcomes and improve their practice. A number of artists, from sculptors to painters, documented the experience of wounded servicemen. In Germany, Joseph documented the healing of facial wounds of soldiers through photography. Albums full of photographs of the facially wounded from a hospital in Britain show their initial wound and the final result of many surgical procedures.[33] Other, more traditional forms of art were used to document soldiers and sailors’ wounds. In Britain, Henry Tonks (1862-1937) drew the facially wounded in pastel drawings for Gillies. Kathleen Scott (1878-1947), a noted sculptor, volunteered to help Gillies, declaring with characteristic aplomb that the "men without noses are very beautiful, like antique marbles." Artists from the British colonies and dominions also illustrated the wounding and recovery process, including New Zealander Herbert Cole (1867-1930) and Australian Daryl Lindsay (1889-1976).[34] In addition, the work of artists, photographers, and surgeons was designed to assist in the psychological healing process, which was just as important as the physical reconstruction of the face.
Plastic surgery↑
During the war, plastic surgery of the face became a medical specialty in itself. Surgical methods for repairing faces damaged as a result of gunshot wounds or shells advanced during the war. It has been argued that the sheer number of facially wounded men provided the means for surgeons to advance medical practice.[35] The number of injuries to the face was significant; it has been estimated that approximately 280,000 men suffered facial wounding in France, Germany, and Great Britain.[36]
Prior to the war, plastic surgery of the face was an established practice and certain areas of the face were surgically altered as related to social and cultural acceptability. In particular, surgeons operated and tried to surgically improve the aesthetics of syphilitic and “racially unacceptable” noses.[37] In cases of facial wounding, many surgeons merely sewed up wounds, less concerned with aesthetics than a successful surgical outcome. The smashed eye sockets, non-existent jaws, and noses presented by the war wounded were a real challenge to the technical expertise of surgeons. Repairing facial wounds became more an aesthetic exercise, as wounded servicemen got the best treatment possible for the sacrifice of their faces to the war effort. In some cases, the facially wounded soldier found it difficult to be accepted by his own family – let alone strangers whom he encountered. Instead of merely sewing up the face, the male aesthetic was considered in the surgical repair of the men’s faces. Indeed, Sander Gilman argues that the war had a positive effect on the acceptability of plastic surgery for aesthetic reasons.[38] He argues that reconstructive surgery became masculinised and therefore more acceptable. Yet plastic surgery in the First World War was more than just facial repair by a surgeon – it required a constant series of collaborations between surgeons, dentists, nurses, photographers, and artists. Reconstructive dentistry in particular was fundamental to the rebuilding of the face. The mechanical dentist provided knowledge of the reconstruction of the bones of the jaw, which provided the expertise and skill for the face to be rebuilt and functions such as chewing and swallowing restored. The collaboration between these individuals overlapped as expertise was required throughout the process of healing and reconstruction.[39]
This new approach and its collective of experts required spaces to treat patients. Surgeons persuaded their respective military medical authorities that they needed to set up special centres for treating maxillofacial wounds. Centres were established in all warring nations which provided specialist surgery, care, which helped men to accept and live with their disfigurement as well as they could outside the confines of the hospital. In Britain, facially wounded soldiers were sent to centres for treatment and were isolated from the wider public. Visits by the public to these hospitals were not encouraged as men grappled with accepting their frightening facial wounds. In these hospitals, mirrors were banned from the wards and benches in the local area were painted blue in order to warn the public that a soldier with facial wounds might sit there.[40]
Transporting soldiers with facial wounds to the hospitals was problematic. Often, for those with multiple wounds, the reconstruction of the face was left until last, as doctors dealt with other wounds considered life threatening. By the time patients got to specialist units, their faces had started to heal, which made reconstruction difficult for maxillofacial surgeons to repair their wounds.[41] In Britain, Harold Gillies went so far as to have tags printed with the address of his specialist unit at Aldershot hospital which were then distributed in field hospitals, so that he was able to conduct surgery and limit the permanent damage to the facially wounded soldier.[42]
Many surgeons and medical practitioners devised innovative ways to treat the facially wounded. One of the most successful innovations was the tubed pedicle. The procedure created a flap of skin from the chest or forehead, which was moved into place on the face.[43] The flap remained attached to the body, but was stitched into a tube to keep the blood supply intact and reduced the incidence of infection. Jaws were repaired by transplanting bone from other parts of the body, or using bones from other sources. While the results and outcomes were not always successful, a significant amount of effort was undertaken in order to restore the mutilated faces of soldiers.
Remembering the Disfigured and Mutilated↑
After the war, film, photography, and literature reminded the public of the physical effects of war on the body. In particular, the pacifist movement utilised depictions of mutilated men to highlight their anti-war message. The army of disabled men in all nations reminded the public of the human suffering that war caused. The impact of the war and its disfigured and mutilated had lasting cultural resonances, as seen throughout the century since its commencement, in the on-going production of a wide range of media relating to these men’s experiences and the war itself.
In different nations, the mutilated and disfigured from the war were treated differently. The veteran with an empty sleeve or trouser leg, an uneven gait, or a stiff arm with a gloved hand became commonplace in the post-war world. In many ways, their bodily loss represented their wartime experience, and was accepted by the public, often uneasy at the scale of the physical and emotional sacrifice of so many men. That said, many veterans with amputations walked carefully to hide their limp or wore a realistic hand or glove on their artificial arm in an attempt to disguise their amputation, no doubt for a number of reasons. However, those with facial disfigurement experienced complex feelings about their war service and their place in post-war society. The facially wounded in France, perhaps defiantly, showed their faces in public, whereas in other countries, many of those with facial disfigurements preferred to avoid exposure to a curious public. For many veterans mutilated and disfigured during the war, remembering their war service and devastating injuries was uncomfortable, and the physical reminder of the war – their missing body part, scarred body, weak lungs, or disfigured face – sometimes elicited unwanted attention.
The powerful and disturbing image of the disfigured and mutilated, particularly those with facial wounds, was used by a range of groups and individuals to convey a message. Pacifists used artists’ work to highlight the devastation of war, to ensure peace was maintained. The anti-war museum in Germany took photos of the mutilated and showed them in order to remind the public of the horrific maiming capacity of modern weaponry. Ernst Friedrich’s (1894-1967) War Against War showed twenty-four photographs from Joseph’s clinic at the Charité in Berlin to remind visitors to the exhibition of the terrifying visage that war created. Other artists such as Georg Grosz (1893-1959) who is probably best known for his work Ecce Homo (1922), also used the mutilated face to demonstrate the lasting horror of the legacy of war. After the war, exhibitions of casts of the disfigured faces of veterans were shown in hospitals in London, Berlin, and Paris.[44] It is difficult to ascertain the reasons why the public attended these exhibitions, but they served a potent reminder of the devastating effects of modern weaponry.
Novels, photography, and film have been inspired by the experiences of the war mutilated. The 2001 film La chambre des officiers, based on the novel by Marc Dugain, focused on the experiences of a number of officers in a specialist French facial ward. When a young boy is confronted by his father’s radically altered face, he shouts “Non mon papa, non mon papa!” The 1971 film Johnny’s Got His Gun was adapted from the 1938 novel of the same name written by Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976). Both films depicted the physical and mental trauma of the disfigured and mutilated from the war and reminded audiences that for some disabled veterans, the emotional trauma of war had to be overcome on a daily basis.
The prosthetics created by the association between medical personnel, crafts people, and artists are a physical reminder of the technology of war, as much as the weaponry which wrought the damage on the soldiers’ bodies and which fills war museums around the world. Some of the material culture of disfigurement in the First World War is ephemeral. Very few of the masks made so painstakingly by artists such as Derwent Wood and Coleman-Ladd exist. Some veterans came to depend heavily on their masks to camouflage their disfigurement, and as part of their physical construction of self, they were buried wearing them. Although numbers of facially wounded men did not wear their masks on a daily basis, special occasions warranted their use, similar to the German “Sunday arm”, which was saved for church to protect others’ sensibilities. Artificial limbs survive in greater numbers, probably because veterans had a number of them throughout their lives, and the prosthetic arms and legs were fashioned of wood, leather, and metal and possess a robustness that a thin tin mask does not.
The war mutilated and disfigured were remembered in public commemoration of the war, yet this differed in national contexts. Amputees were publicly remembered and participated in Armistice Day commemorations. Other veterans, whose clothes hid their disfigurement, also participated in the marches to various cenotaphs that took place around the world on the date selected for reflection on war and loss. However, the facially disfigured in many nations did not take part; instead they remained in the shadows of remembrance. In France, unlike many other nations, the public saw the mutilated as they paraded with other war wounded. National contexts are fundamental to understanding the treatment and life experience of the mutilated and disfigured from the war.
Conclusion↑
It is clear that the First World War produced many thousands of mutilated and disfigured men. Veterans with metal or wooden legs or empty sleeves were seen on the streets of large cities around the world for decades before the First World War and the 1914-1918 conflict added significant numbers of amputees. Those with facial mutilation, whose injuries were virtually impossible to disguise, added a new type of war horror, as the public saw their war-ravaged faces. Medical specialities were created and new spaces were established to treat the disfigured and mutilated. The war provided the means for new medical innovations to be developed in these institutions, and the number of wounded meant treatment and techniques were tested and proven during the war. Co-operation between medical professionals improved outcomes for the severely wounded. New therapeutic regimes and a state responsibility for treating the mutilated and disfigured meant that veterans from the war re-established themselves as useful working citizens. However, different forms of mutilation and disfigurement engendered different reactions from the veteran, those around them, and the state.
Julie Anderson, University of Kent
Section Editors: Michael Neiberg; Sophie De Schaepdrijver
Notes
↑ Significantly lowered death rates from disease as opposed to wounds were particular to the Western Front. For an overview of the impact of disease see Ozdemir, Hikmet: The Ottoman Army 1914-1918. Disease and Death on the Battlefield, Salt Lake City 2008.
↑ For details on weapons see Audoin-Rouzeau, Stephane: Weapons. Issued by 1914-1918 Online, online: encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/weapons.
↑ See Bourke, Joanna: Dismembering the Male. Men’s Bodies, Britain and the Great War. London 1996.
↑ See van Bergen, Leo: Before My Helpless Sight. Suffering, Dying and Military Medicine on the Western Front, 1914-1918, Farnham 2009.
↑ See Carden-Coyne, Ana: The Politics of Wounds. Military Patients and Medical power in the First World War, Oxford 2015; Reznick, Jeffrey S.: Healing the Nation. Soldiers and the Culture of Caregiving in Britain During the Great War, Manchester 2004; Reznick, Jeffrey S.: John Galsworthy and Disabled Soldiers of the Great War, Manchester 2009; Kienitz, Sabine: Beschädigte Helden. Kriegsinvalidität und Körperbilder 1914-1923, Paderborn 2008; Perry, Heather: Recycling the Disabled. Army, medicine and modernity in WW1 Germany, Manchester 2014; Eckart, Wolfgang U.: Medizin und Krieg. Deutschland 1914-1924, Paderborn 2014; Linker, Beth: War’s Waste, Rehabilitation in World War I America, Chicago 2011.
↑ Cohen, Deborah: The War Come Home. Disabled Veterans in Britain and Germany 1914-1939, Berkeley 2001; Gehrhardt, Marjorie: The Men with Broken Faces. Bern 2015; Michl, Susanne: Im Dienste des Volkskörpers. Deutsche und französische Ärzte im Ersten Weltkrieg, Göttingen 2007.
↑ Sophie, Delaporte: Les Gueules Cassées: Les Blessés de la Face de la Grande Guerre, Paris 1996.
↑ Verstraete, Pieter and Van Everbroeck, Christine: Le silence mutilé. les soldats invalides belges de la Grande Guerre, Namur (Belgium) 2014.
↑ See Cooter, Roger: Medicine and the Goodness of War, in: Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 7/2 (1990).
↑ See Alper, Helen (ed.): A History of Queen Mary’s University Hospital Roehampton, Roehampton 1997. The University of Glasgow is currently cataloguing the Erskine House papers, online: universityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/launc...
↑ Perry, Recycling the Disabled 2014, p. 96.
↑ Linker, War’s Waste 2011, p. 81.
↑ Bamji, Andrew: Facial Surgery. the Patient’s Experience, in: Cecil, Hugh and Liddle, Peter H. (eds.): Facing Armageddon. The First World War Experienced, London 1996, p. 495.
↑ For Germany, see Whalen, Robert Gerald: Bitter Wounds. German Victims of the Great War, 1914-1939, Ithaca 1984, p. 40. For Britain, see Bourke, Dismembering the Male 1996.
↑ There were no sulphalidamides or antibiotics, which were not developed until the 1930s and the Second World War respectively.
↑ Perry, Recycling the Disabled 2014, p. 31.
↑ This was a collection of articles that had been published in medical journals such as the British Medical Journal.
↑ William Towers, 11038, Imperial War Museum Sound Archive, London.
↑ Anderson, Julie / Perry, Heather R.: Rehabilitation and Restoration. Orthopaedics and disabled soldiers in Germany and Britain in the First World War, in: Medicine, Conflict, and Survival, 30/4 (2014), p. 240.
↑ Conference on Artificial Limbs for Disabled Servicemen, in: British Medical Journal (31 July 1915), p. 190.
↑ Perry, Recycling the Disabled 2014, p. 46.
↑ Osgood, Robert B.: A Survey of the Orthopaedic Services in the US Army Hospitals, General Base and Debarkation, in: American Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery 17 (1919), pp. 359-82.
↑ Guyatt, Mary: Better Legs. Artificial Limbs for British Veterans of the First World War, in: Journal of Design History 14/4 (2001), p. 201.
↑ Heather, Perry: Re-arming the Disabled Veteran. Artificially Rebuilding State and Society in World War One Germany, in: Ott, Katherine et al. (eds.): Artificial Parts, Practical Lives. Modern Histories of Prosthetics, New York 2002.
↑ See Linker, War’s Waste 2011.
↑ Borden, Mary: The Forbidden Zone, London 2013, p. 43 [originally published in 1929].
↑ Wallace, Antony F.: The Progress of Plastic Surgery, Oxford 1982, p. 96.
↑ There is a short film of Anna Coleman-Ladd working in her studio in Paris with her assistants. The film depicts them making masks and fitting them to a disfigured soldier. Online: www.smithsonianmag.com/history/faces-of-war-145799854/.
↑ Gehrhardt, The Men with Broken Faces 2015, p. 49.
↑ Nicolson, Juliet: The Great Silence 1918-1920. Living in the Shadow of the Great War, London 2009, pp. 66-67.
↑ Delaporte, Sophie: Gueules Cassées de la Grande Guerre, in: Delaporte, F. / Fournier, E. / Devauchelle, B. (eds.): La Fabrique du Visage. De la Physiognomonie Antique à la Premiere Greffe du Visage, Turnhout 2010, p. 301.
↑ See Delaporte, Les Gueules Cassées 1996.
↑ Online: gilliesarchives.org.uk.
↑ Alberti, Samuel J.M.M. (ed.): War, Art and Surgery. The Work of Henry Tonks and Julia Midgley, London 2014, p. 9.
↑ Gehrhardt, The Men with Broken Faces 2015, p. 5.
↑ Winter, Jay: Forms of kinship and remembrance in the aftermath of the Great War, in: Winter, J. / Sivan, E. (eds.): War and Remembrance in the Twentieth Century, Cambridge 1999, p. 48.
↑ See Gilman, Sander L.: Making the Body Beautiful. A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery, Princeton 1999.
↑ Ibid., p. 164.
↑ Gerhardt argues that expertise was required in stages. Gehrhardt, The Men with Broken Faces 2015, p. 45.
↑ Bamji, Facial Surgery 1996, p. 498.
↑ Gehrhardt, The Men with Broken Faces 2015, p. 5.
↑ Bamji, Andrew: Queen Mary’s Sidcup, 1974-1994. A Commemoration, 1994, p. 13.
↑ Santoni-Rugiu, Paolo / Sykes, Philip J.: A History of Plastic Surgery, New York 2007, p. 96.
↑ Maliniak, Jacques W.: Sculpture in the Living. Rebuilding the Face and Form by Plastic Surgery, New York 1934, p. 30.
Selected Bibliography
Alberti, Samuel J. M. M. (ed.): War, art and surgery. The work of Henry Tonks and Julia Midgley, London 2014: Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Anderson, Julie: ‘Jumpy stump’. Amputation and trauma in the First World War, in: First World War Studies 6/1, 2015, pp. 9-19.
Anderson, Julie / Perry, Heather R.: Rehabilitation and restoration. Orthopaedics and disabled soldiers in Germany and Britain in the First World War, in: Medicine, Conflict and Survival 30/4, 2014, pp. 227-251
Biernoff, Suzannah: Flesh poems. Henry Tonks and the art of surgery, in: Visual Culture in Britain 11/1, 2010, pp. 25-47.
Biernoff, Suzannah: The rhetoric of disfigurement in First World War Britain, in: Social History of Medicine 24/3, 2011, pp. 666-685.
Bourke, Joanna: Dismembering the male. Men's bodies, Britain and the Great War, Chicago 1996: University of Chicago Press.
Carden-Coyne, Ana: The politics of wounds. Military patients and medical power in the First World War, Oxford 2014: Oxford University Press.
Carden-Coyne, Ana: Reconstructing the body. Classicism, modernism, and the First World War, Oxford 2009: Oxford University Press.
Cohen, Deborah: The war come home. Disabled veterans in Britain and Germany, 1914-1939, Berkeley 2008: University of California Press.
Delaporte, Sophie: Gueules cassées. Les blessés de la face de la Grande Guerre, Paris 2004: A. Viénot.
Eckart, Wolfgang Uwe: Medizin und Krieg. Deutschland 1914-1924, Paderborn 2014: Ferdinand Schöningh.
Gagen, Wendy Jane: Remastering the body, renegotiating gender. Physical disability and masculinity during the First World War, in: European Review of History. Revue europeenne d'histoire 14/4, 2007, pp. 525-541.
Gehrhardt, Marjorie: The men with broken faces. Gueules cassées of the First World War, Oxford; Berlin 2015: Peter Lang.
Harrison, Mark: The medical war. British military medicine in the First World War, Oxford; New York 2010: Oxford University Press.
Kienitz, Sabine: Beschädigte Helden. Kriegsinvalidität und Körperbilder 1914-1923, Paderborn 2008: F. Schöningh.
Linker, Beth: War's waste. Rehabilitation in World War I America, Chicago; London 2011: University of Chicago Press.
Özdemir, Hikmet: The Ottoman army, 1914-1918. Disease and death on the battlefield, Salt Lake City 2008: University of Utah Press.
Perry, Heather R.: Recycling the disabled. Army, medicine, and modernity in WWI Germany, Manchester 2014: Manchester University Press.
Reznick, Jeffrey S.: John Galsworthy and disabled soldiers of the Great War. With an illustrated selection of his writings, Manchester 2009: Manchester University Press.
Reznick, Jeffrey S.: Healing the nation. Soldiers and the culture of caregiving in Britain during the Great War, Manchester; New York 2004: Manchester University Press.
Van Bergen, Leo: Before my helpless sight. Suffering, dying and military medicine on the Western Front, 1914-1918, Farnham; Burlington 2009: Ashgate.
Weedon, Brenda, Alper, Helen (ed.): A history of Queen Mary's University Hospital Roehampton, Roehampton 1997: Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust.
Citation
Anderson, Julie: Mutilation and Disfiguration , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2017-08-03. DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.11137.
License
This text is licensed under: CC by-NC-ND 3.0 Germany - Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivative Works.
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West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
The Royal Hospital in Wolverhampton, once the City’s’ main hospital was closed in 1997, its services being relocated to New Cross Hospital in nearby Wednesfield. Since then, the Royal, which had served the Town’s people since 1849 has been left unoccupied, quickly falling into a derelict state.
However, Tesco in partnership with the local council and other organisations, have set about redeveloping and rejuvenating the former hospital. The plan is to refurbish the old buildings, creating a Primary Health Care facility, along with offices, shops, cafes, and the seemingly obligatory houses and apartments that are associated with these types of developments.
As a result of this, all the more modern buildings that made up part of the complex have been demolished, leaving the original buildings standing, along with the four-storey wing that was built in 1937.
The picture shows the 1937 four-storey wing that also once incorporated operating theatres, wards and a swimming pool. Due to financial constraints, the original plans for the wing dictated a three-storey building, however it was eventually built with four storeys. The curved steel-framed ends to the building are quite typical of the Art-Deco period, in which it was built. I don’t know what is planned for this building, but it’s nice to know that it will survive.
The 1937 wing contained the following departments, when it was operational:
Basement: Occupational Therapy, Swimming Pool, Instrument Curator.
Ground 1st Floor: Graham Adams, Scott / Twentyman, Harper Millar wards.
2nd and 3rd Floors: Sheldon / Langley wards.
4th Floor: Maxillo-Facial Surgery.
The tall building is Meilahti Tower Hospital.
"Meilahti Tower Hospital is situated in Meilahti hospital campus and is part of the Helsinki University Hospital. The hospital is specialized in cardiology, neurology and cardiothoracic, vascular, gastrointestinal, urological, oral and maxillofacial surgery. In Finland, all organ transplants in adult patients are exclusively performed at Meilahti Tower Hospital."
www.hus.fi/en/medical-care/hospitals/meilahti-tower-hospi...
West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
Fall Fashion and Day to Night with Estee - Stephanie C had arranged for a fall fashion show and makeup tutorial at Nordstrom Downtown (shop.nordstrom.com/store-details/nordstrom-michigan-avenue/). It started around 11 AM. We had a private room and a catered lunch. (Well, sort of catered, we ordered from the Nordstrom cafeteria and Stephanie picked it up.) The fall fashion show was first, then lunch, then the makeup tutorial. I volunteered to be the makeover model. The tutorial was on simple techniques for going from a day to a night look. This involved primarily eye makeup and of course a stand out lip color. During the makeover I related how I got my four facial scars - they resulted from impacts with a coffee table, a boomerang, a ping pong paddle, and a steel roofing panel. Fortunately you can only see them up close and most are easily hidden with makeup. Major lessons learned - for facial injuries, demand a maxillofacial surgeon.
The Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Mike Gilday, recognized CDR Sara Stires as the first and only female in the Navy to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as a LTjg. CDR Stires earned this award for heroism in aerial flight during a deployment with the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) in Operation Enduring Freedom. The award citation can be found at the following website: valor.militarytimes.com/hero/401075
CDR Stires is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon currently stationed at Naval Health Clinic Annapolis. She is the first DC Officer in school history to run Brigade Medical. In addition, CDR Stires has been deeply involved in a mentoring program for females to pursue OMS training in the Navy. She credits Dr. Rhonda Rohloff (prior Navy OMS) for her mentorship.
(Photo courtesy of CDR Daniel Honl, via CNO ADM Mike Gilday’s Facebook page, 31 March 2021)
Published in Weekly Dental Update, April 2, 2021.
Multi Specialty,Critical Care & Joint Replacement Center- Hospital in Dombivli East.
Website: shivamhospital.net/hospital-in-dombivli.html
Hospital equipped with 50 bedded multispeciality & joint replacement center providing quality & dedicated health care in DOMBIVLI. Shivam hospital have experienced teams of Doctors, Administrator & paramedical staff to provide quality services round-the-clock.
Medical Services:
ICU & Critical Patient
Accident-Fracture
Emergency
Orthopaedic
Joint Replacement
Arthoscopy
Spine Surgery
Surgical & Laproscopic Surgeries
Cancer Surgery
Plastic Surgery
Maxillofacial Surgery
KUANTAN, Malaysia (Aug. 8, 2016) Dr. Khairul Bariah, center, an oral maxillofacial surgeon from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan performs surgery on a patient with the assistance of U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Healy and U.S. Navy Capt. Craig Salt, both plastic surgeons assigned to USNS Mercy (T-AH 19). Doctors from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan visited Mercy to perform surgery alongside Pacific Partnership 2016 surgeons. This is the first time Mercy and Pacific Partnership have visited Malaysia. During the mission stop partner nations work side-by-side with local military and civilian organizations in a search and rescue exercise, civil engineering projects, community relation events and subject matter expert exchanges. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Elizabeth Merriam/Released)
As an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons and state licensed physicians and dentists, Doctors George Nail and Jeff Dombrowski in Carrollton, TX, practice a full scope of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery.
The ‘tooth’ comes out in Swaziland village
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
HHOHHO, Swaziland (August 8, 2009) – Six-member combined dental team from the Air Force, Army and Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) treated 55 patients during the two-day dental civic assistance project (DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 here, Aug. 6-7.
Three of the four Air Force members are assigned to the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron out of Patrick AFB, Fla. The fourth, Air Force Col. Dean Whitman is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon with the 59th Medical Wing at Wilford Medical Hall, Texas, and Army Spc. Reginald Lee, 212th Combat Support Hospital dental hygienist out of Vicenza, Italy, is the fifth member of the team.
“I don’t know where else I would want to be,” Whitman said. “It has been an awesome experience to come to South Africa and help the people of Swaziland out.”
Colonel Whitman said the team’s success wouldn’t happen without its sixth member, 1st Lt. Themba Dlamini, USDF dental hygienist and exercise MEDFLAG 09 interpreter.
“There is always some sort of language barrier when you go to another country,” Whitman said. “Even though some of the villagers speak English, the majority of them speak Swahili. It has been great to have Themba interpret for us.”
“I have really enjoyed working with my fellow U.S. dental members,” Dlamini said. “Not too many fellow countrymen visit a dentist office very often, so to have Col. Whitman and Maj. Kevin Hachmeister come in and extract a badly decayed tooth was a great benefit.”
The six-person dental team saw 11 patients on day one and 44 patients the second day. They are scheduled to visit a village in each of the other three provinces – Mkhwakhweni, Mafutseni and Shiselweni – during the final week of the MEDFLAG exercise.
MEDFLAG 09, is a joint and combined military exercise conducted by U.S. Army Africa (USARAF) which supports the AFRICOM commander’s Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) strategy wherein U.S. military send medical capabilities to African countries. The exercise consisted of three phases: classroom training, a mass casualty exercise (MASCAL) and humanitarian and civic assistance (HCA) events, to include medical, dental and veterinary assistance to the people of Swaziland.
The U.S. service members are in Swaziland at the invitation of the Swazi government and in coordination with the U.S. Embassy in Mbabane. The exercise is an example of U.S. military’s commitment to a partner relationship with the country of Swaziland.
This image is cleared for public release and generally considered in the public domain. Request credit be given to the individual photographer and Department of the Army.
To learn more about US Army Africa, visit us online at: Official Website
PHOTO CAPTION: Air Force Master Sgt. Victoria Ashley-Manning, 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron dental hygienist, prepares all the dental equipment that will be used during the first day of the two-day dental civic assistance project (DENCAP), in Hhohho Village in the Zinyane Province, Swaziland, Aug. 7. The dentists treated 55 patients during the two-day DENCAP. The U.S. service members are in Swaziland at the invitation of the Swazi government and in coordination with the U.S. Embassy in Mbabane. MEDFLAG is a joint and combined military exercise between the USDF and U.S. Army Africa that supports the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) commander's Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) strategy wherein U.S. sends medical capabilities to African countries. (Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters)
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West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
West Linn Oral Surgeon – Ted Rodich DDS – Oral Solutions NW
Providing the Highest Level of Care in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ...in a Tranquil & Caring Environment!
When you visit the West Linn office of Dr. Rodich, you can be assured that your comfort is a priority. Dr. Rodich and his entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Our office is calm and serene to make your treatment experience less intimidating and more relaxing.
SoulRider.222 / Eric Rider © 2021
A 39-year-old woman presented to ED with mouth pain. She was cleaning the bathroom and suddenly slipped and fell. She hit her mandible with the floor. She was able to speak minimally—no avulsed teeth.
She had teeth 23 and 24 subluxations.
Important lessons:
This is a high energy impact trauma. Ensure that you evaluate the patient systematically for trauma and not forget to pay attention to a neck injury. Violence, assault, partner abuse should be in your mind. Specific mandibular and panoramic imaging may give excellent views for diagnosis. In some cases, CT may be necessary to evaluate the maxillofacial injury. Besides, know the teeth universal numbering. If you see this kind of damage in the examination, always rule out an alveolar fracture.
Tvøroyri - Suðuroy - Faroe Islands.
Dentistry is the known evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the soft and hard tissues of the jaw (mandible), the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is a part of stomatology. Dentistry is widely considered necessary for complete overall health. Those in the practice of dentistry are known as dentists. Other people aiding in oral health service include dental assistants, dental hygienists, dental technicians, and dental therapists.
Dentistry is that branch of medicine which deals with the study and practice of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases of the mouth, the maxilla, and the face.
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army Africa Commander Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III talks with some of the U.S. service members participating in exercise MEDFLAG 09, during his visit of Lubombo Village on the second day of the combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 on Aug. 13.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
The News Line: Feature Thursday, 10 March 2016
Junior doctors determined to beat the Tories!
TENS OF THOUSANDS of junior doctors struck yesterday and many told News Line just how determined they were to stop the imposed contracts and to beat the Tory government.
At the closure-threatened Ealing Hospital bus driver and Unite member Kuga Kuna brought his dhol drum to support the doctors and a strong beat was kept up on the picket line all morning.
He said: ‘We need to keep our local hospital. The population is more and more in Ealing and they are closing our hospital. I’ve lived in Southall for over 30 years and my family, like so many others, completely rely on it.
‘The junior doctors are right to strike, they are fighting for all of us. We want to work together with all the unions, all of us must stand up. We want a general strike to win for the doctors and save our hospital.’
Student nurse and RCN member Kereen Blair said: ‘I think the doctors are working too many hours. If you are doing that you can’t perform.’ Speaking about the Tory government’s just-announced abolition of the bursary for student nurses, Kereen added: ‘It’s ludicrous. You’re doing a 40-hour shift already, so how can you top up your income?
‘I believe we need a general strike to support the doctors and defend the NHS.’
Striking junior doctor and BMA member Chen Lim said: ‘There are only so many doctors and the Tories are asking us to work two extra days. If they are going to roster doctors over the weekend where are they going to come from?
‘It takes five years to train a doctor. The logistics do not make sense. It’s a flawed plan, either intentionally or unintentionally. We spend 8.9% of our GDP on healthcare in the UK, Germany spends roughly 15%, we have about three doctors per thousand people, Germany has 5.9.
‘Nurses are now facing similar issues to us, with the abolition of the bursary, and nurses who are working aren’t actually paid very much at all. Certainly, we need to reach out to the nursing unions.’ Junior doctor and BMA member Salman Razzaki said: ‘It’s important to remember that even though it doesn’t necessarily feel like it, the power is in our hands.’
On a freezing morning with driving rain, junior doctors set up their picket at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, next to a large banner saying ‘NHS SOS’. They got a very warm reception from staff and patients. Dr Beth Gibson, Obstetrics and Gynaecology registrar, was on the picket line with her two infants. She said: ‘I’m here because I think this contract dispute is representative of the dismantling of the NHS. The only aim is to stretch services further for political reasons.
‘Patients will lose. Doctors will lose and we need to stop it here, before they take away our NHS free at the point of service. This is about privatisation. A seven day service for routine things is appealing, but would cost a lot of money.
‘I don’t know when he’s going to attack the other healthcare professionals, the nurses, phlebotomists, ultrasonographers etc, but then we can all fight together. The public need to get behind us, because we need the NHS for us and for our kids.’
James Rowson, BMA rep, said: ‘It’s a massive shame that they are imposing this contract. It shows total disregard for the health service, staff, patients and everyone in the country. They want to get away with forcing doctors to get the same amount of money for working seven days a week as working five. This will open up the doors to enforcing other member of staff to work similar dangerous shifts.
‘This is turning into a full-on assault on the NHS, not just the doctors. We don’t want to see the collapse of the NHS. Doctors must not back down. We need the support of allied staff from different unions.’
‘We would welcome any support from other unions to defend the NHS,’ Dr Frances Conti-Ramsden told News Line on the Royal Free Hospital junior doctors picket line yesterday morning. She said: ‘We are all extremely disappointed that the government have decided to impose unsafe and unfair contracts on us, without robust safeguards on overworking.
‘We are very disappointed that the government does not recognise out-of-hours working, including the non-resident on-call supplement. Morale is at the lowest it has ever been for the last 40 years as a result of this unilateral imposition. Sadly, many of my colleagues are wondering whether to remain in medicine, given the repercussions of this contract on our working life. We’re striking today to strongly oppose imposition and also to raise awareness of the privatisation by stealth that is becoming the reality across England.’
Fellow picket Dr Alison Berner said: ‘I’m striking because I think the cuts to junior doctors will be the first of many in the whole of the NHS. The only way to save it is to stand firm.’
Dr Leane Brown added: ‘I’m fighting imposition of our contract instead of negotiating properly. And we can’t have a seven-day service with five-day funds. This is not about pay or just about hours, it is about bullying and unsafe, untested changes. Everyone needs to pull together and fight for the NHS. We need all the support we can get from everyone.’
Royal Free junior doctors were joined by UCL medical students ‘roving pickets’. UCL medical student Joe Simpson said: ‘We’ve organised this touring picket to go to our main teaching hospitals – Royal Free, Whittington and UCH.’
Pickets of junior doctors were out in force at both King’s College and The Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital, on Denmark Hill Camberwell, south-east London. Jacob Bird, registrar at the Maudsley Hospital, said: ‘We do not endorse the imposition of this contract. In fact it’s oxymoronic, a contract is an agreement between two parties and we do not agree with this because we feel it is the beginning of the end for the NHS, and a road to a land that we don’t want to be part of. So we are striking today to protect patients, to protect the safeguards of working hours for us, and protect the future of the NHS.’
‘We appreciate all the support we can get because we are at the moment on our own. The trade unions have to make up their minds themselves, but we would like to get some back-up from unions like Unison, Unite and other unions like that but it is completely up to them.’
Dr Hannah Orrell, from King’s College Hospital said, ‘We believe in what we are fighting for. This is now our third strike, because the government are trying to impose a contract this year which will affect all the junior doctors, who are the majority of the workforce of doctors in the NHS’.
‘The contract to be imposed will not just affect our wellbeing and not be very fair for us but it will not be safe for our patients, so unfortunately this strike is necessary. Junior doctors aren’t traditionally militant people and I think this has all come as a bit of a shock, standing up for our rights, and joining the union the BMA. It has brought people together. We are realising that if the government won’t back down then we can’t back down either, and things will escalate.’
‘Today a few of us are going into other unions at a grass roots level, to talk to schools and to the TUC and other work-based unions to try to explain what we are doing. A lot of people in other unions are very clued up and are already on board. There should be discussions between the BMA and other unions and forming those links is important. That is something we should be calling for from the Junior Doctors Committee.’
Elizabeth Young, a junior doctor specialising in Maxillofacial surgery said: ‘I think the focus on the junior doctors contract at the moment is just the tip of the iceberg and it is going to spread out to other areas in the NHS, with other health care professionals.
‘If we don’t make a stand somewhere we are just going to let this situation continue and let them roll over us and allow the NHS to be dissolved on our watch. That would be just terrible so we have to stand together and oppose these changes. You know we are only at the beginning!’
Dr Chris James, an A&E doctor, said: ‘We have got to take the opportunity of this strike to make a development. I think what we are doing at the moment is good and the BMA are listening to their members, but I think we have to escalate this. There has to be an action with more than just junior docs. It has to be recognised that this is about privatisation of the NHS.
‘I think bringing out the other unions has to happen at some point. It is about bringing people out together for the wider case of the NHS, and if that means lobbying the TUC and general strikes, then we may have to go down that route.’
Sarah Williams, also from KCH A&E, said: ‘I think this struggle is going to be difficult and a long one. I don’t think the government are likely to back down any time soon. They think they have got the upper hand over us, but I think they are underestimating the power of 54,000 doctors that disagree with what they are trying to do.
‘The contract issues now are slightly less relevant. Everyone has begun to realise this is more a fight for saving the NHS. I think numbers is important, because if you are going against the whole population, there is no government that can win against that.
‘We need everyone out in support of the NHS rather than thinking it’s already dead and gone. The BMA has done a good job so far. It’s been listening to what its members are saying, but if we are not making any ground we will have to have a rethink of how we go forward. I think support from everyone is going to be key in this struggle and that is what we should do’.
Dr. Amin Ahmadiah, on the picket line at Barnet Hospital, said: ‘It is absolutely unacceptable, the contract that is being imposed. It will demoralise and already fatigued workforce. Rota gaps will become even more pronounced than they are now. Our patients will come to harm as a direct result of this contract and that is fundamentally unacceptable.
‘Our feelings are shared by nurses, midwives, police and the rest of the public sector. We should not be punished for helping the great British public. If this Tory government is so stubborn as to force this contract through, there will be no junior doctor workforce and more explicitly that means 54,000 fewer doctors in our NHS. We just won’t let that happen. Not a chance.’
‘I think the TUC needs to wait until this period of three 48-hour strikes is over. If in late April the government still hasn’t conceded then the TUC should call for a General Strike for the safety of the public. If we don’t oppose this contract, then we are not fulfiling our professional and ethical duty.’
At Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, there were lively pickets of junior doctors who received constant hoots of support from passing vehicles, particularly ambulance drivers. Arnold Patel told News Line: ‘The proposed contract is going to mean the already difficult rota is going to be even tighter.
‘The way we work it is very difficult to swop rotas, so we can’t attend important events like marriages, christenings, births deaths etc. I probably won’t be able to attend my own funeral! This is a backhanded way of the government shutting down the NHS.’
His colleague Amie Shah, said: ‘There is a big problem with patient safety. If the government put the contract in place they will move a lot of junior doctors from Monday-to-Friday to weekend working. They are stretching the existing workforce to cover more shifts.
‘We already have a recruitment problem because shifts are not being covered and we are already trying to cover the shifts not covered. They are stretching out a service that is already stretched. I am here because I feel passionately it will affect patient safety and also the health of doctors. I am already too tired to stretch me any further. For all the extra hours that I put in that I don’t get paid for, there is no such thing as “danger money”.’
‘All in all, this contract is detrimental to patient safety. The statistics about weekend working and the death rate that Hunt is putting out are incorrect. Why has he not been speaking to the junior doctors. The only thing that he is seen to do with them is to run away.’
At St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge, there was a strong picket of doctor and their supporters. Dr. Naomi Wright, Paediatric Surgery Registrar, said: ‘There are a few major problems with the contract. We are already working to our absolute limit, in fact many hours over what we are rota’d for, for which we are not getting paid.
‘The new contract takes doctors away from work in the week and puts them on weekends. We don’t need extra registrars or consultants at weekends, we are covered.
‘But with the new contracts we would have an excess at weekends and not enough during the week.
‘The doctors who do most antisocial hours stand to lose the most money. We in Paediatrics get 50% extra because we work 25 hour shifts. The new contract would take that away and perhaps replace it with 11% This is completely unfair. I couldn’t live in London and have a child on the new contract, and neither could anyone on similar specialities.
‘The government produced figures on mortality, that are completely wrong. They chose the statistics that suited their purpose. If we proceeded like that in our work we would get struck off.’
Sarah Hallett, another junior doctor, said: ‘We have to stop the imposition. We will continue to escalate or action until we do. We have had good solidarity, from teachers, ASLEF and other workers.''
At St George’s Hospital in Tooting, Dr. Lisa Wallberg, a junior doctor and a member of National Health Singers, said: ‘I am Swedish by nationality. I am proud to be part of the National Health Service. I think it is a great system. It’s the best I have seen anywhere. and we have to defend it.’
Dr Sophie Herbert, A&E at St George’s Hospital, said: ‘We have escalated the action to a 48-hour strike because of the government’s imposition of the contract which is going to spread us more thinly and damage patient care. Ideally the government should go back to negotiate, but in practice they are destroying the whole public sector.’
Hannah Barham-Brown, final year medical student was on the picket supporting the doctors at St. George’s Hospital and said: ‘Cameron and his government have to realise that this is not going to stop.’ Rebecca Thom, a registrar, said: ‘The Tories have betrayed every worker in the country. I think we have to continue until this contract is defeated.’
At Hammersmith Hospital junior doctor Orhan Orhan said: ‘It’s incredibly important to keep up the pressure against this imposed contract. We have a duty to our patients to ensure a safe contract.’
Julia Prague, another junior doctor at Hammersmith told News Line: ‘We do not want to work for anyone other than the NHS because we believe in the principles of the NHS.
‘The danger of an enforced contract is that doctors will leave the NHS to work elsewhere. We don’t want to see the NHS privatised. Already, hundreds of millions of NHS services have been outsourced to companies like Virgin in Kent.’
Hammersmith midwife Shelley Thompson joined the junior doctors on the picket line and said: ‘Other unions should come out alongside the junior doctors before unsafe contracts are imposed on them. We are all part of a team.’
At Charing Cross Hospital car horns tooted their support for the striking junior doctors.
Junior doctor Lulu Ritch joined the picket even though she had just finished her night shift providing emergency cover.
‘I feel that Hunt is trying to make us break our own NHS from the inside by imposing a contract which is forcing us to take strike action because it is unsafe,’ she told News Line. Another striker Neeraj Kalra said: ‘We don’t agree with the imposition of a contract that has no real thought about current practices and how staffing numbers will be affected.
‘How can the same number of doctors provide a seven day service when we’re struggling to provide a service over five days? ‘We have to keep going and the strike will have to be extended and would welcome other unions coming out in support.’
At the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital junior doctor Ieuan Reece told News Line: ‘The new contract has unsafe monitoring of our hours and will result in us being overworked. I think the government has started with us because we only have a yearly contract, whereas other NHS staff have a fixed contract.
‘Obviously, if they can impose this on junior doctors they will try it on other NHS staff who will be hit harder by cuts in unsocial hours payments because their basic pay is lower.’
In Cambridge, a strong picket line of junior doctors and their supporters gathered outside the main entrance of Addenbrooke’s Hospital. There was a continuous stream of patients who expressed their support with the striking doctors.
Steven Bishop, a junior doctor working at Addenbrooke’s, told News Line: ‘We’re on strike because an unsafe and unfair contract has been imposed unilaterally by the government. This is not good for the future of the NHS and is not good for patients. It will seriously damage the morale of all NHS staff.
‘The government is pushing through their agenda of austerity. The short-sighted reducing of budgets and cutting of services in the long term will cause uncalculable damage to society. If the government succeeds in turning the NHS private, there will be no going back. This is the greatest care of healthcare staff and wider society as well. I have a friend in Wiltshire who tells me how the paediatrics there has been privatised, and many GP practices are private too. It’s terrible.
‘A general strike to support the junior doctors would be great. We need all the support we can get. At the moment public support for us is very high. We won’t give in, and we’ll force the government to back down.’
The News Line: Editorial Thursday, 10 March 2016
JUNIOR DOCTORS ARE DETERMINED TO DEFEAT THE TORIES
TENS of thousands of junior doctors struck yesterday and made it very clear that they are not a protest movement, and that their first two-day strike action, to be repeated on Wednesday 6th April and Tuesday April 26th, is part of the struggle to defend workers rights, to stop attempts to impose contracts and to defeat the Tory drive to privatise the NHS, and return Britain to some new ‘Dark Ages’.
One doctor told News Line: ‘It’s a massive shame that they are imposing this contract. It shows total disregard for the health service, staff, patients and everyone in the country. They want to get away with forcing doctors to get the same amount of money for working seven days a week as working five. This will open up the doors to enforcing other members of staff to work similar dangerous shifts.
‘This is turning into a full-on assault on the NHS, not just the doctors. We don’t want to see the collapse of the NHS. Doctors must not back down. We need the support of allied staff from different unions.’
Another observed: ‘We believe in what we are fighting for. This is now our third strike, because the government are trying to impose a contract this year which will affect all the junior doctors who are the majority of the workforce of doctors in the NHS.
‘The contract to be imposed will not just affect our wellbeing and not be very fair for us but it will not be safe for our patients, so unfortunately this strike is necessary. Junior doctors aren’t traditionally militant people and I think this has all come as a bit of a shock, standing up for our rights, and joining the union the BMA. It has brought people together. We are realising that if the government won’t back down, then we can’t back down either, and things will escalate …’
The junior doctors are ready for serious action! The fact is that they are fighting on behalf of the entire working class and middle class to defend the NHS, which has saved millions of lives during its short history, and defend trade union rights.
In this, the junior doctors do have the support of the entire working class for their struggle since everybody knows that, without the NHS, life would be hell. What they do not have is the support of the careerist trade union leaders, the types who start off on the factory floor and end up in the House of Lords as a reward for keeping the working class quiet.
In fact, the Tories are relying on these union leaders to keep the working class in check while the Tories fight it out with the doctors. This is what the union leaders did in 1984-85 when they assisted Thatcher by allowing the miners to fight alone. They must not be allowed to betray the struggle of the junior doctors in the same way, particularly as the privatisation of the NHS will condemn millions of workers to early deaths.
To win this struggle, junior doctors and the BMA must move the whole trade union movement into action to bring the Tories down. The BMA and the Junior Doctors Committee must make a public call for the TUC to bring all of its member unions out for the next 48-hour strike on April 6th. They must march on the TUC to demand that it takes action!
Local Councils of Action must be formed by the BMA, junior doctors, union branches, youth and community groups to bring all unions out on April 6th for two days of strike action in support of the junior doctors.
This will lay the basis for forcing the TUC to call an indefinite general strike to support the junior doctors and save the NHS. What is behind the current Tory attacks is the fact that the capitalist system is going through its greatest-ever crisis. It can only be saved by sacrificing the living standards, the health care and the basic rights of the working class and the middle class in a return to 19th century conditions.
This is why at the centre of defending the NHS is the struggle to get rid of out-of-date capitalism with a socialist revolution. Only the WRP fights for this policy and perspective. Join us today!
The News Line: Feature Thursday, 10 March 2016
Junior doctors determined to beat the Tories!
TENS OF THOUSANDS of junior doctors struck yesterday and many told News Line just how determined they were to stop the imposed contracts and to beat the Tory government.
At the closure-threatened Ealing Hospital bus driver and Unite member Kuga Kuna brought his dhol drum to support the doctors and a strong beat was kept up on the picket line all morning.
He said: ‘We need to keep our local hospital. The population is more and more in Ealing and they are closing our hospital. I’ve lived in Southall for over 30 years and my family, like so many others, completely rely on it.
‘The junior doctors are right to strike, they are fighting for all of us. We want to work together with all the unions, all of us must stand up. We want a general strike to win for the doctors and save our hospital.’
Student nurse and RCN member Kereen Blair said: ‘I think the doctors are working too many hours. If you are doing that you can’t perform.’ Speaking about the Tory government’s just-announced abolition of the bursary for student nurses, Kereen added: ‘It’s ludicrous. You’re doing a 40-hour shift already, so how can you top up your income?
‘I believe we need a general strike to support the doctors and defend the NHS.’
Striking junior doctor and BMA member Chen Lim said: ‘There are only so many doctors and the Tories are asking us to work two extra days. If they are going to roster doctors over the weekend where are they going to come from?
‘It takes five years to train a doctor. The logistics do not make sense. It’s a flawed plan, either intentionally or unintentionally. We spend 8.9% of our GDP on healthcare in the UK, Germany spends roughly 15%, we have about three doctors per thousand people, Germany has 5.9.
‘Nurses are now facing similar issues to us, with the abolition of the bursary, and nurses who are working aren’t actually paid very much at all. Certainly, we need to reach out to the nursing unions.’ Junior doctor and BMA member Salman Razzaki said: ‘It’s important to remember that even though it doesn’t necessarily feel like it, the power is in our hands.’
On a freezing morning with driving rain, junior doctors set up their picket at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, next to a large banner saying ‘NHS SOS’. They got a very warm reception from staff and patients. Dr Beth Gibson, Obstetrics and Gynaecology registrar, was on the picket line with her two infants. She said: ‘I’m here because I think this contract dispute is representative of the dismantling of the NHS. The only aim is to stretch services further for political reasons.
‘Patients will lose. Doctors will lose and we need to stop it here, before they take away our NHS free at the point of service. This is about privatisation. A seven day service for routine things is appealing, but would cost a lot of money.
‘I don’t know when he’s going to attack the other healthcare professionals, the nurses, phlebotomists, ultrasonographers etc, but then we can all fight together. The public need to get behind us, because we need the NHS for us and for our kids.’
James Rowson, BMA rep, said: ‘It’s a massive shame that they are imposing this contract. It shows total disregard for the health service, staff, patients and everyone in the country. They want to get away with forcing doctors to get the same amount of money for working seven days a week as working five. This will open up the doors to enforcing other member of staff to work similar dangerous shifts.
‘This is turning into a full-on assault on the NHS, not just the doctors. We don’t want to see the collapse of the NHS. Doctors must not back down. We need the support of allied staff from different unions.’
‘We would welcome any support from other unions to defend the NHS,’ Dr Frances Conti-Ramsden told News Line on the Royal Free Hospital junior doctors picket line yesterday morning. She said: ‘We are all extremely disappointed that the government have decided to impose unsafe and unfair contracts on us, without robust safeguards on overworking.
‘We are very disappointed that the government does not recognise out-of-hours working, including the non-resident on-call supplement. Morale is at the lowest it has ever been for the last 40 years as a result of this unilateral imposition. Sadly, many of my colleagues are wondering whether to remain in medicine, given the repercussions of this contract on our working life. We’re striking today to strongly oppose imposition and also to raise awareness of the privatisation by stealth that is becoming the reality across England.’
Fellow picket Dr Alison Berner said: ‘I’m striking because I think the cuts to junior doctors will be the first of many in the whole of the NHS. The only way to save it is to stand firm.’
Dr Leane Brown added: ‘I’m fighting imposition of our contract instead of negotiating properly. And we can’t have a seven-day service with five-day funds. This is not about pay or just about hours, it is about bullying and unsafe, untested changes. Everyone needs to pull together and fight for the NHS. We need all the support we can get from everyone.’
Royal Free junior doctors were joined by UCL medical students ‘roving pickets’. UCL medical student Joe Simpson said: ‘We’ve organised this touring picket to go to our main teaching hospitals – Royal Free, Whittington and UCH.’
Pickets of junior doctors were out in force at both King’s College and The Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital, on Denmark Hill Camberwell, south-east London. Jacob Bird, registrar at the Maudsley Hospital, said: ‘We do not endorse the imposition of this contract. In fact it’s oxymoronic, a contract is an agreement between two parties and we do not agree with this because we feel it is the beginning of the end for the NHS, and a road to a land that we don’t want to be part of. So we are striking today to protect patients, to protect the safeguards of working hours for us, and protect the future of the NHS.’
‘We appreciate all the support we can get because we are at the moment on our own. The trade unions have to make up their minds themselves, but we would like to get some back-up from unions like Unison, Unite and other unions like that but it is completely up to them.’
Dr Hannah Orrell, from King’s College Hospital said, ‘We believe in what we are fighting for. This is now our third strike, because the government are trying to impose a contract this year which will affect all the junior doctors, who are the majority of the workforce of doctors in the NHS’.
‘The contract to be imposed will not just affect our wellbeing and not be very fair for us but it will not be safe for our patients, so unfortunately this strike is necessary. Junior doctors aren’t traditionally militant people and I think this has all come as a bit of a shock, standing up for our rights, and joining the union the BMA. It has brought people together. We are realising that if the government won’t back down then we can’t back down either, and things will escalate.’
‘Today a few of us are going into other unions at a grass roots level, to talk to schools and to the TUC and other work-based unions to try to explain what we are doing. A lot of people in other unions are very clued up and are already on board. There should be discussions between the BMA and other unions and forming those links is important. That is something we should be calling for from the Junior Doctors Committee.’
Elizabeth Young, a junior doctor specialising in Maxillofacial surgery said: ‘I think the focus on the junior doctors contract at the moment is just the tip of the iceberg and it is going to spread out to other areas in the NHS, with other health care professionals.
‘If we don’t make a stand somewhere we are just going to let this situation continue and let them roll over us and allow the NHS to be dissolved on our watch. That would be just terrible so we have to stand together and oppose these changes. You know we are only at the beginning!’
Dr Chris James, an A&E doctor, said: ‘We have got to take the opportunity of this strike to make a development. I think what we are doing at the moment is good and the BMA are listening to their members, but I think we have to escalate this. There has to be an action with more than just junior docs. It has to be recognised that this is about privatisation of the NHS.
‘I think bringing out the other unions has to happen at some point. It is about bringing people out together for the wider case of the NHS, and if that means lobbying the TUC and general strikes, then we may have to go down that route.’
Sarah Williams, also from KCH A&E, said: ‘I think this struggle is going to be difficult and a long one. I don’t think the government are likely to back down any time soon. They think they have got the upper hand over us, but I think they are underestimating the power of 54,000 doctors that disagree with what they are trying to do.
‘The contract issues now are slightly less relevant. Everyone has begun to realise this is more a fight for saving the NHS. I think numbers is important, because if you are going against the whole population, there is no government that can win against that.
‘We need everyone out in support of the NHS rather than thinking it’s already dead and gone. The BMA has done a good job so far. It’s been listening to what its members are saying, but if we are not making any ground we will have to have a rethink of how we go forward. I think support from everyone is going to be key in this struggle and that is what we should do’.
Dr. Amin Ahmadiah, on the picket line at Barnet Hospital, said: ‘It is absolutely unacceptable, the contract that is being imposed. It will demoralise and already fatigued workforce. Rota gaps will become even more pronounced than they are now. Our patients will come to harm as a direct result of this contract and that is fundamentally unacceptable.
‘Our feelings are shared by nurses, midwives, police and the rest of the public sector. We should not be punished for helping the great British public. If this Tory government is so stubborn as to force this contract through, there will be no junior doctor workforce and more explicitly that means 54,000 fewer doctors in our NHS. We just won’t let that happen. Not a chance.’
‘I think the TUC needs to wait until this period of three 48-hour strikes is over. If in late April the government still hasn’t conceded then the TUC should call for a General Strike for the safety of the public. If we don’t oppose this contract, then we are not fulfiling our professional and ethical duty.’
At Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, there were lively pickets of junior doctors who received constant hoots of support from passing vehicles, particularly ambulance drivers. Arnold Patel told News Line: ‘The proposed contract is going to mean the already difficult rota is going to be even tighter.
‘The way we work it is very difficult to swop rotas, so we can’t attend important events like marriages, christenings, births deaths etc. I probably won’t be able to attend my own funeral! This is a backhanded way of the government shutting down the NHS.’
His colleague Amie Shah, said: ‘There is a big problem with patient safety. If the government put the contract in place they will move a lot of junior doctors from Monday-to-Friday to weekend working. They are stretching the existing workforce to cover more shifts.
‘We already have a recruitment problem because shifts are not being covered and we are already trying to cover the shifts not covered. They are stretching out a service that is already stretched. I am here because I feel passionately it will affect patient safety and also the health of doctors. I am already too tired to stretch me any further. For all the extra hours that I put in that I don’t get paid for, there is no such thing as “danger money”.’
‘All in all, this contract is detrimental to patient safety. The statistics about weekend working and the death rate that Hunt is putting out are incorrect. Why has he not been speaking to the junior doctors. The only thing that he is seen to do with them is to run away.’
At St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge, there was a strong picket of doctor and their supporters. Dr. Naomi Wright, Paediatric Surgery Registrar, said: ‘There are a few major problems with the contract. We are already working to our absolute limit, in fact many hours over what we are rota’d for, for which we are not getting paid.
‘The new contract takes doctors away from work in the week and puts them on weekends. We don’t need extra registrars or consultants at weekends, we are covered.
‘But with the new contracts we would have an excess at weekends and not enough during the week.
‘The doctors who do most antisocial hours stand to lose the most money. We in Paediatrics get 50% extra because we work 25 hour shifts. The new contract would take that away and perhaps replace it with 11% This is completely unfair. I couldn’t live in London and have a child on the new contract, and neither could anyone on similar specialities.
‘The government produced figures on mortality, that are completely wrong. They chose the statistics that suited their purpose. If we proceeded like that in our work we would get struck off.’
Sarah Hallett, another junior doctor, said: ‘We have to stop the imposition. We will continue to escalate or action until we do. We have had good solidarity, from teachers, ASLEF and other workers.''
At St George’s Hospital in Tooting, Dr. Lisa Wallberg, a junior doctor and a member of National Health Singers, said: ‘I am Swedish by nationality. I am proud to be part of the National Health Service. I think it is a great system. It’s the best I have seen anywhere. and we have to defend it.’
Dr Sophie Herbert, A&E at St George’s Hospital, said: ‘We have escalated the action to a 48-hour strike because of the government’s imposition of the contract which is going to spread us more thinly and damage patient care. Ideally the government should go back to negotiate, but in practice they are destroying the whole public sector.’
Hannah Barham-Brown, final year medical student was on the picket supporting the doctors at St. George’s Hospital and said: ‘Cameron and his government have to realise that this is not going to stop.’ Rebecca Thom, a registrar, said: ‘The Tories have betrayed every worker in the country. I think we have to continue until this contract is defeated.’
At Hammersmith Hospital junior doctor Orhan Orhan said: ‘It’s incredibly important to keep up the pressure against this imposed contract. We have a duty to our patients to ensure a safe contract.’
Julia Prague, another junior doctor at Hammersmith told News Line: ‘We do not want to work for anyone other than the NHS because we believe in the principles of the NHS.
‘The danger of an enforced contract is that doctors will leave the NHS to work elsewhere. We don’t want to see the NHS privatised. Already, hundreds of millions of NHS services have been outsourced to companies like Virgin in Kent.’
Hammersmith midwife Shelley Thompson joined the junior doctors on the picket line and said: ‘Other unions should come out alongside the junior doctors before unsafe contracts are imposed on them. We are all part of a team.’
At Charing Cross Hospital car horns tooted their support for the striking junior doctors.
Junior doctor Lulu Ritch joined the picket even though she had just finished her night shift providing emergency cover.
‘I feel that Hunt is trying to make us break our own NHS from the inside by imposing a contract which is forcing us to take strike action because it is unsafe,’ she told News Line. Another striker Neeraj Kalra said: ‘We don’t agree with the imposition of a contract that has no real thought about current practices and how staffing numbers will be affected.
‘How can the same number of doctors provide a seven day service when we’re struggling to provide a service over five days? ‘We have to keep going and the strike will have to be extended and would welcome other unions coming out in support.’
At the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital junior doctor Ieuan Reece told News Line: ‘The new contract has unsafe monitoring of our hours and will result in us being overworked. I think the government has started with us because we only have a yearly contract, whereas other NHS staff have a fixed contract.
‘Obviously, if they can impose this on junior doctors they will try it on other NHS staff who will be hit harder by cuts in unsocial hours payments because their basic pay is lower.’
In Cambridge, a strong picket line of junior doctors and their supporters gathered outside the main entrance of Addenbrooke’s Hospital. There was a continuous stream of patients who expressed their support with the striking doctors.
Steven Bishop, a junior doctor working at Addenbrooke’s, told News Line: ‘We’re on strike because an unsafe and unfair contract has been imposed unilaterally by the government. This is not good for the future of the NHS and is not good for patients. It will seriously damage the morale of all NHS staff.
‘The government is pushing through their agenda of austerity. The short-sighted reducing of budgets and cutting of services in the long term will cause uncalculable damage to society. If the government succeeds in turning the NHS private, there will be no going back. This is the greatest care of healthcare staff and wider society as well. I have a friend in Wiltshire who tells me how the paediatrics there has been privatised, and many GP practices are private too. It’s terrible.
‘A general strike to support the junior doctors would be great. We need all the support we can get. At the moment public support for us is very high. We won’t give in, and we’ll force the government to back down.’
The News Line: Editorial Thursday, 10 March 2016
JUNIOR DOCTORS ARE DETERMINED TO DEFEAT THE TORIES
TENS of thousands of junior doctors struck yesterday and made it very clear that they are not a protest movement, and that their first two-day strike action, to be repeated on Wednesday 6th April and Tuesday April 26th, is part of the struggle to defend workers rights, to stop attempts to impose contracts and to defeat the Tory drive to privatise the NHS, and return Britain to some new ‘Dark Ages’.
One doctor told News Line: ‘It’s a massive shame that they are imposing this contract. It shows total disregard for the health service, staff, patients and everyone in the country. They want to get away with forcing doctors to get the same amount of money for working seven days a week as working five. This will open up the doors to enforcing other members of staff to work similar dangerous shifts.
‘This is turning into a full-on assault on the NHS, not just the doctors. We don’t want to see the collapse of the NHS. Doctors must not back down. We need the support of allied staff from different unions.’
Another observed: ‘We believe in what we are fighting for. This is now our third strike, because the government are trying to impose a contract this year which will affect all the junior doctors who are the majority of the workforce of doctors in the NHS.
‘The contract to be imposed will not just affect our wellbeing and not be very fair for us but it will not be safe for our patients, so unfortunately this strike is necessary. Junior doctors aren’t traditionally militant people and I think this has all come as a bit of a shock, standing up for our rights, and joining the union the BMA. It has brought people together. We are realising that if the government won’t back down, then we can’t back down either, and things will escalate …’
The junior doctors are ready for serious action! The fact is that they are fighting on behalf of the entire working class and middle class to defend the NHS, which has saved millions of lives during its short history, and defend trade union rights.
In this, the junior doctors do have the support of the entire working class for their struggle since everybody knows that, without the NHS, life would be hell. What they do not have is the support of the careerist trade union leaders, the types who start off on the factory floor and end up in the House of Lords as a reward for keeping the working class quiet.
In fact, the Tories are relying on these union leaders to keep the working class in check while the Tories fight it out with the doctors. This is what the union leaders did in 1984-85 when they assisted Thatcher by allowing the miners to fight alone. They must not be allowed to betray the struggle of the junior doctors in the same way, particularly as the privatisation of the NHS will condemn millions of workers to early deaths.
To win this struggle, junior doctors and the BMA must move the whole trade union movement into action to bring the Tories down. The BMA and the Junior Doctors Committee must make a public call for the TUC to bring all of its member unions out for the next 48-hour strike on April 6th. They must march on the TUC to demand that it takes action!
Local Councils of Action must be formed by the BMA, junior doctors, union branches, youth and community groups to bring all unions out on April 6th for two days of strike action in support of the junior doctors.
This will lay the basis for forcing the TUC to call an indefinite general strike to support the junior doctors and save the NHS. What is behind the current Tory attacks is the fact that the capitalist system is going through its greatest-ever crisis. It can only be saved by sacrificing the living standards, the health care and the basic rights of the working class and the middle class in a return to 19th century conditions.
This is why at the centre of defending the NHS is the struggle to get rid of out-of-date capitalism with a socialist revolution. Only the WRP fights for this policy and perspective. Join us today!
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army Africa Commander Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III and MEDFLAG 09 Exercise Co-director Army Lt. Col. Michael Money look on as American Embassy Charge' d' affairs Sarah Morrison discusses with Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) Lt. Col. Moses Swane, MEDFLAG 09 exercise co-director, about how the exercise went during the second of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on Aug. 13.
The images are generally considered in the public domain. Request that credit be given to the U.S. Army and individual photographer.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
From left, U.S. Air Force Maj. Melissa Fisher, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon with the 633rd Medical Group, and Senior Airman Brittnie Pierce, an oral maxillofacial surgery technician with the 633rd Medical Group, remove a patient's wisdom teeth during oral surgery Jan. 2, 2014, at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Wesley Farnsworth, U.S. Air Force/Released)
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: Army Capt. Julie Bridges, center for health promotion and preventive medicine nurse, demonstrates different preventive illness techniques to Hhohho villagers during the second of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on Aug. 13.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: Army Capt. Julie Bridges, center for health promotion and preventive medicine nurse, demonstrates different preventive illness techniques to Hhohho villagers during the second of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on Aug. 13.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army Africa Commander Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III talks with Army Capt. Charlie Pastor and Army Spc. Michelle Fiveash, U.S. service members participating in exercise MEDFLAG 09, during his visit of Lubombo Village on the second day of the combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 on Aug. 13.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: A member of a local drama group performs health education skits to villagers of Lubombo during the second of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on Aug. 13
The images are generally considered in the public domain. Request that credit be given to the U.S. Army and individual photographer.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
From my Ukrainian archive. Image was taken In Odessa Institute of Oral & Maxillofacial
Surgery during my professional spesiaization there in April 1980
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: Students from Lubombo Village look on as members of a local drama group perform health education skits during the second of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on Aug. 13. More than 600 patients were treated during the two-day visit.
The images are generally considered in the public domain. Request that credit be given to the U.S. Army and individual photographer.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: Army Maj. Michael McDonald, 212th Combat Support Hospital physician, checks a patient during the second of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on Aug. 13.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: Army Pvt. Reginald Lee, 212th Combat Support Hospital dental hygienist, assist Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, 59th Medical Wing Wilford Medical Hall oral and maxillofacial surgeon, in an extraction procedure during the combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on August 13.
The images are generally considered in the public domain. Request that credit be given to the U.S. Army and individual photographer.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: Members of a local drama group perform health education skits to villagers of Lubombo during the second of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on Aug. 13. More than 600 patients were treated during the two-day visit.
The images are generally considered in the public domain. Request that credit be given to the U.S. Army and individual photographer.
To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil
Official Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/usarmyafrica
Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (March 3, 2022) - Regina Jones, a dental assistant at Naval Hospital Jacksonville’s Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic, prepares instruments. Jones, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, says, “It’s important that we make sure our sailors are ready for deployment and up to healthy standards.” (U.S. Navy photo by Deidre Smith, Naval Hospital Jacksonville/Released). #FacesofNHJax
United States Army Africa
MEDFLAG 09: Partnership strengthens ties and friendships
By Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
MANZINI, Swaziland – Partnership was the key to success during MEDFLAG 09, a U.S. Army Africa exercise held this August that benefited thousands of people in Swazi villages.
That partnership was built on cooperation between the U.S. military and government of Swaziland, said Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander of U.S. Army Africa.
“Our pledge is to continue to serve side-by-side with our national and international partners to promote security, stability and peace in Africa, and of course in Swaziland,” Garrett said. “MEDFLAG 09 has been an important demonstration of our commitment to our African and partnered nations.”
The exercise included the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force, the Swaziland Ministry of Health, U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Africa Command.
Swazi medical staff got firsthand tips from U.S. medical officers. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops learned how to overcome the challenges to offering healthcare in rural African villages, Garrett said.
At a medical professional exchange, a dozen Swazi military and civilian medics took part in a seminar with U.S. medical officers – sharing ideas that build capacity to work together in the future. Through “first responder” mentoring, 25 Swazi medics from the USDF and the health ministry gained important tools that can help them in a crisis.
Overall, 16 Swazi medics, both military and civilians, took part in joint medical missions in local communities that helped Swazi people in need.
“Our Soldiers learned important lessons about how to operate in Africa, while the Swazi medical staff increased their capabilities through our interaction,” Garrett said. “As an added benefit, the people of Swaziland received quality care from this partnership effort.”
During the two-week exercise, roughly 2,400 medical and dental treatments were performed during visits to Swazi villages. At veterinary clinics, nearly 10,500 animals received treatment.
While in Swaziland, Garrett visited the joint U.S.-Swazi medical teams and spoke at the closing ceremony, held Aug. 14 at USDF headquarters.
“American and Swazi medics worked side-by-side to improve our readiness and enhance our ability to work together in combined medical operations,” Garrett said.
U.S. and Swazi teams carried out six veterinary civil assistance projects (VETCAPs), including a two-day visit to Hhohho Village in Zinyane Province, one-day at Shiselweni Village in Mkhwakhweni Province, one day at Manzini Village in Matufseni Province and a two-day visit in Lubombo Village in Maloma Province. During the VETCAPs, the veterinary team treated 6,792 cattle, 3,381 goats, 195 sheep, 195 dogs, one horse and one pig.
They also operated and successfully removed a benign tumor growing on the throat of a cow on the first day of VETCAPs.
“It was an unexpected surprise,” said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Simpson, of the Fort Dix, New Jersey-based 404th Civil Affairs Battalion, who was leading veterinary efforts during MEDFLAG 09. “Even though the tumor was benign it was near the throat. If it continued growing, it would have cut off the cow’s air passage and it would have suffocated.”
As the U.S. and Swazi veterinary teams treated the Swaziland livestock, medical and dental teams treated the local villagers.
The medical teams, which consisted of members from the 212th Combat Support Hospital, the U.S. Army Center for Health and Preventive Medicine and the 21st Sustainment Command, treated 1,519 patients during the six medical civil assistance projects (MEDCAPs).
“We saw patients who had everything from the basic cold to an elderly woman who had a goiter,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew McCreery, MEDFLAG 09’s executive officer.
The dental team, which consisted of members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla.; 59th Medical Wing, Wilford Medical Hall, Texas; and 212th CSH, treated 262 patients and extracted 273 teeth during the six dental civil assistance projects (DENCAPs).
“We were able to gain the trust of the Swazi villagers,” said Air Force Col. Dean Whitman, oral and maxillofacial surgeon. “Conducting these sorts of missions is important so the Swazis know we have good intentions and our primary concern is to help.”
During MEDFLAG 09, both U.S. and Swazi personnel conducted classes on disaster medical planning and operations, a mass casualty exercise and humanitarian and civic outreach to local communities. Classes included first responder familiarization, disaster relief, preventive medicine and tropical medicine.
“The health of the Swazi people and their livestock is clearly very important,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Money, co-director of MEDFLAG 09. “It is our distinct privilege to have worked side-by-side with our new found friends from the USDF and the Ministry of Health, to deliver medical and veterinary care in all four regions of this beautiful land.”
Cleared for public release.
Photos by Air Force Staff Sgt. Lesley Waters. CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
PHOTO CAPTION: Army Maj. Sean Fortson, 212th Combat Support Hospital emergency medicine physician, checks a patient during the second of a two-day combined medical and dental civil assistance project (MEDCAP and DENCAP) as part of exercise MEDFLAG 09 in Lubombo Village, Swaziland on Aug. 13.
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