By U.S. Army Sgt. Deja Borden
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - Military medics have a reputation for being lifesavers on the battlefield, but their job doesn't end when the bullets stop flying.
Medical care specialists gathered at the Area Support Group-Kuwait headquarters in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Feb. 6, for their quarterly Force Health Protection meeting.
Junior-enlisted and senior leaders from the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps discussed various subjects concerning the safety of service members while deployed and in garrison.
"We have to fix the guys serving the commander's intent," said Col. Nelson Rosen, commander, 3rd Medical Command, Operational Command Post (Forward).
Rosen stressed the importance of being as proactive as possible in their career field. Being reactive to illnesses and other issues isn't good enough, Rosen said.
Force health protection is made up of programs including preventive medicine, disease and internal medicine, combat Stress control, surgeon's office health care specialties and veterinary units, said Staff Sgt. Nicholas Domico, preventive medicine noncommissioned officer in charge, 3rd Medical Command.
Col. Mark Burnett, command surgeon of ASG-KU, spoke about the dangers of infectious disease during the brief.
Rabies is something people don't tend to think about in the U.S., but overseas it's a much bigger deal, said Burnett.
"Ninety-five percent of rabies deaths occur in Asia and Africa. That's important because that's where we send troops," he said.
In August 2012, Spc. Kevin Shumaker became the first service member since 1974 to die of rabies. The incident occurred due to a bite from a stray dog in Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan still sees a significant number of rabies cases," said Maj. Danny Dacey, chief of public health.
While briefing by phone from Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Dacey mentioned that stray cats and dogs are still a big risk to the health of service members.
The conference also addressed many other health concerns for deployed service members.
Lt. Col. Nicole Chevalier, commander, 72nd Medical Detachment Veterinary Service Support, joined the conference via video from Kabul, Afghanistan to speak on the importance of food safety.
"My primary job is to protect the health of U.S. forces," said Chevalier.
Educating people on food safety and informing them about sanitation and approved source requirements are her main goals, she said.
Chevalier makes it her duty to bring inspections of local facilities like restaurants and dining facilities in line with NATO standards.
Rosen said the number one concern is educating every service member to protect his or her health properly.
"We have to serve those with good information and bad information," he said. "We have to make them understand and educate them."
It can be challenging when individuals are misinformed or listen to rumors rather than fact, Rosen said.
It is the duty of all medical care personnel to be subject matter experts to combat ignorance, he said.
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