News

Reservists take medical skills to Indonesia

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Patrick Cabellon
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Col. Paul Abson, the operations flight commander with the 446th Aeromedical Staging Squadron and Staff Sgt. Carrie Conley, an optometry technician with the 446th Aerospace Medicine Squadron here, joined a team of other Reserve medical Airmen deployed to West Timor, Indonesia, July 16-23, to participate in Pacific Angel 2009.

Pacific Angel is a Pacific Air Forces humanitarian assistance operation led by 13th Air Force at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. It is aimed at improving military civic cooperation between the United States and other Asia-Pacific area nations.

Reserve and Guard are involved with Pacific Angel with the help of the active duty, said Colonel Abson.

Colonel Abson and the team of medical experts worked in the villages of Nainoi and Batakte, West Timor.

During his five days of medical care for the West Timor villagers, the medical team of experts saw 3,000 patients with medical, optometry and dental issues.

During his time in West Timor, Colonel Abson and other Airmen worked alongside the local public health experts and local army personnel.

The Timor army had some medical personnel who helped with providing care, according to Sergeant Conley. While in West Timor, she worked as an optometry technician.

Colonel Abson went to Cambodia last year in support of Pacific Angel and its continuing humanitarian mission.

In his previous mission to Cambodia and in his most recent mission to West Timor, Colonel Abson said he saw very needy people.

"In places like (Cambodia and West Timor), we see medical problems and diseases that we rarely, if ever, see here back home," said Colonel Abson with a serious expression in his eyes.

"We had to provide catered care," said Sergeant Conley. "We would help treat the problems we could fix on the spot. This allowed for us to treat as many people as we could," she said. "Those that had more serious medical problems, or problems that could not be taken care of right then and there, were referred to the government to be treated."

Some of the more serious conditions were leprosy, endemic malaria, gout, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and cataracts.

Cataracts were one of the more prominent medical problems the team in West Timor encountered.

The colonel's team was not only dealt with diseases and sickness, but also day-to-day injuries as well. Colonel Abson also remembers a young girl he treated not for any sort of disease, but for an incident earlier that day.

"There was a girl I had come to me on one of my first days in (West Timor); she had fallen off her motorcycle and hurt her foot," he said.

Colonel Abson sewed up her injuries on her foot and had her up and moving in no time.

"It was a fantastic experience," said Sergeant Conley. "Being around the culture was educational and I learned a bit of their language," she said enthusiastically.

One of Sergeant Conley's more memorable experiences was when she was walking through Naioni, one of the towns they helped give aid to. She came across a house with children and adults standing outside on the porch. The children called out to her in their native tongue, "Sister, sister!" She sat down with them and just smiled. When she left she said "Goodbye" in their language and continued on her way, said Sergeant Conley.

The next day she brought candy to the children. One of the adults climbed up a coconut tree and retrieved a coconut with his machete, cracked it open and gave it to her as a "thanks" for giving the children candy. Later that day, three adults came with handfuls of coconuts as a gift for her. Sergeant Conley was taken by surprise, she said.

Missions such as this not only keep medical skills sharpened for Reservists, but provide an uplifting reminder of why they do what they do.

"Every member came back home rejuvenated and reenergized," said the colonel. "It reinvigorated the decision to be a medical practitioner, especially when you see what you can do for people who have nothing. It shows just how good Team Air Force medicine is."