Reserve medics treat 8,000 patients in Dominican Republic

  • Published
  • By Capt. Marnee A.C. Losurdo
  • 512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Thirty-eight Air Force Reserve medics with the 512th Aerospace Medicine Squadron here provided free medical care to 8,363 patients as part of a Medical Readiness Training Exercise in the Dominican Republic July 10-24.

The 512th Airlift Wing Airmen, as well as other reservists from around the country, worked with a team of doctors and nurses from the Dominican military to provide free medical care to the citizens of Constanza, a central-mountain town with a population of 42,000.

The medical care team, comprised of family medicine, optometry, dental services, pediatrics and women's health providers, treated patients at four different clinics set up in Constanzan schools.

"This was a great experience and provided invaluable training," said Col. Walton F. Reddish, 512th AMDS commander and a nurse, who added it's been nearly 20 years since the unit has participated in an exercise such as this. "We not only got to work with foreign medical care specialists, but we treated common tropical diseases there that we never see in the United States."

Two of these conditions are leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis. Leishmaniasis is caused by parasites transmitted through a bug bite. The disease can cause skin sores, fever, anemia and spleen and liver damage. Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease better known as snail fever. If left untreated, the ailment can damage internal organs and, in children, can impair growth and mental development.

Working from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, family practitioners also treated patients for common conditions such as colds and the flu; and, dentists pulled teeth on patients, many of whom had never been to the dentist, said Colonel Reddish.

"As a unit, we got a better idea of what we can do as a group, practicing medicine in a foreign country with limited resources," said Colonel Reddish.

In one day alone, the team cared for more than 1,300 people.

Despite the challenges, Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Hinshaw, 512th AMDS medical technician, said the trip was worth every minute to be able to assist people such as Marcel Valenzuela. The 66-year-old Constanzan woman received her first pair of glasses, bifocals.

"She said she was very happy to be able to read her bible," said Sergeant Hinshaw, who added Ms. Valenzuela is now scheduled to have cataract surgery next month in Santo Domingo, 87 miles southeast of Constanza.

Ms. Valenzuela wasn't the only person to receive her first pair of glasses. Marlee Alberto, an 11-year-old girl, said she will save her glasses for when she goes back to school in August. She said she is looking forward to reading Spanish books.

In all, the optometrist team supplied 800 pairs of glasses to people who otherwise would not have been able to afford them, said Colonel Reddish.

Although the Dominican Republic has one of the fastest growing economies in the Caribbean, more than a third of the country's population lives in poverty, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development website.

Many of these poorer citizens have not had medical care in years, said Colonel Reddish.

"It was very fulfilling to help those less fortunate and underserved," said Sergeant Hinshaw. "It was an opportunity of a lifetime to go on this mission and provide care to these people."