Reservists help bring medical care to remote Alaska

Published April 10, 2009

BETHEL, Alaska -- Twenty-three Air Force reservists delivered medical care in remote Alaska during a two-week training deployment in March.

Operation Arctic Care is a joint-military medical readiness exercise that brings no-cost health care, health education and veterinary services to underserved people in Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region.

More than 200 service members from throughout the Lower 48 and Hawaii traveled to Bethel, Alaska, for the exercise.

The reservists joined joint-service teams - a mix of doctors, dentists, optometrists and Army veterinarians. The teams then dispersed to 11 different villages carrying equipment and supplies.

Lt. Col. Cheryl Hooper, a nurse practitioner and 931st Aerospace Medicine Flight commander from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., was part of a team sent to Alakanuk, a small village of about 600 people.

Her team lodged and worked inside a village school, where there is no doctor or dentist. The reservist spent much of her time as a public health instructor to the school's students.

Many of the health problems her team encountered were nutrition related, she said. Food that the villagers do not hunt has to be flown in. Vegetables and dairy products are almost non-existent.

"All they eat is meat," Colonel Hooper said. "They don't get enough calcium ... (and) they're hungry most of the time."

Some reservists could only reach remote villages by air and river.

Tech. Sgt. Letroy Mays, a medical technician in the 445th Aeromedical Medicine Squadron, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, said his team set up a full-fledged medical clinic in Kwethluk and provided wellness check-ups to those who normally did not have the opportunity to visit a clinic because of the remoteness of the area where they live.

"We were primary-care physicians and provided care to 260 patients, out of a population of more than 600 that live in and around Quinhaqak," said Maj. Margaret Myslinksy, a reservist in the 445th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Wright-Patterson.

"Our team taught classes on nutrition and bullying. The Navy seamen taught basic life support to the teachers," she said.

One reason for establishing Arctic Care 15 years ago was to enable medical personnel to operate in a joint environment.

"Those Navy guys were just fantastic," said Lt. Col. (Dr.) James Clark, a reservist from McConnell. "Everyone worked together great. There was a lot of camaraderie between the services."

Each branch of the U.S. military takes turns leading the annual training. The Army was in charge last year, and the Navy led this year's training. The Air Force is slated to lead the exercise in 2010.

In addition to Wright-Patterson and McConnell AFBs., other Air Force reservists this year came from Travis AFB, Calif.; Hill AFB, Utah; Scott AFB, Ill.; Hickam AFB, Hawaii; Minneapolis-St. Paul Air Reserve Station, Minn.; Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.; Tinker AFB, Okla.; and Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)