European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday december 13, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 military Medicine of the joint visits to Survey Sites for Hospital pre positioning and agreements among the services for medical support. The medical plans Are being jointly written and Are i Good shape said it. Gen. Quinn Becker army surgeon general. Before going to Washington he was Elj com surgeon and 7th medical come commander. The top three doctors of the air Force army and Navy in Europe said they talk among themselves constantly. I talk to him Grcen Dyke every Day. I know his Home Honc number said army maj. Gen. Frank f. Ledford r., commander of the 7th medical come. We work together All the time. It goes beyond crisis said Navy capt. Daniel b. Lestage commander of the . Naval medical come european Region and Fleet medical officer . Naval forces Europe. Medical logistics also is a sore Point. Mayer said current medical logistics is a weak link in readiness because each service handles its own medical support system. Greendyke said the services Are not in Complete agreement on How to unify medical logistics. But the services have agreed to test the army s proposal to handle logistics for All three services. Dollars although members of Congress have been critical of the services Progress in improving medical readiness that concern docs not always translate into More Dol House appropriations committee for example denied the s31.5 million requested for medical mobilization facilities Compromise Between the House and Senate on the fiscal 1986 military construction Bijl restored ji9.4 Mil lion. But the Compromise also provided that none of the Money May be spent until Mayer certifies that the facilities fit in a worldwide plan for medical mobilization and contingency facilities that emphasizes in creased Host nation support and maximum use of exist ing facilities. The final Bill also eliminated or deferred requests for j2 9 million for a medical contingency Complex for the air Force Hospital at Torr Jon a spam. Air Force officials said the Complex would have Al Lowed the Hospital to expand to 500 Beds and provided some added operating room capability in an emergency. $1.5 million for a medical contingency Complex at $6 85 million for Fleet Hospital support facilities naval activities London. The House panel said this was one of a number of projects of Low operational a titty Beina denied because of budget constraints. However the military construction Bill is not the Only source of funding for medical readiness programs the How fiscal 1986 defense appropriation Bill would pro-i1uluc i"11 .,.1 hic re vim. Sjj.5 photo by gut Schweitler Mayer Weinberger and medical officials in Europe agree there Are not enough doctors and nurses in pc Ciali de surgical Fields As Well As certain other health care providers in Case of War. Efforts arc being made to improve training and recruiting programs and to beef up the reserves. Mayer and Weinberger said the emphasis on provid ing direct care to non Active duly patients has reduced the priority that should be Given to medical much emphasis they said has been Given to pro Viding a military obstetrician or military paediatrician. Look at the composition of our Active duty and re serve medical forces and our training programs. All arc weighted toward general medical care including obstetrics and Weinberger told a defense depart ment health conference in september. I am directing or. Mayer aggressively to seek arrangements with Community medical resources where they arc available and where they meet our High Quality standards. Medical sir pcs can be made More accessible to our Weinberger said. Mayer said in an interview that there arc no plans to reduce the medical benefits for military families and retirees. But he said the mix of health care at military facilities has to be changed so that health care providers would handle More cases that would exercise their capabilities needed in War. Wiesbaden air Force medics practice patient evacuation Over rough terrain. We re absolutely determined to meet both our Legal As Well As our moral responsibility to take care of All the Mem Bers of the military family including retirees Mayer said. He said there would not be any Radical changes. And he noted that even if he got 30 new surgeons he could not simply assign them overseas because of troop ceilings medical officials said there May be ways of using More civilian health organizations in Europe. But they also noted there in t enough business in military hospitals in Europe to keep Many More Active duty surgeons working. You Don t become Good at health care by Reading about it in books said Lydford of the 7th medical come. The Only Way you get Good at health care is Todo health care. It inks j2 years to train somebody to be a surgeon and if he stops doing surgery for a couple of years he s no Good in either peacetime or wartime Lydford and others Sec no conflict Between the medi Cal services peacetime and wartime missions. They be Lieve that caring for families frees Active duty personnel from worry and encourages them to stay in the military. In addition most treatment needed during a War would be general medical care not surgery they said. Obstetricians can assist with surgery and paediatricians can provide general care. Or. Maj Bill Parker a paediatrician at the army Hospital at Heidelberg said adolescents Are Ages 12 to 23 and a paediatrician would know the special treatment that Young troops would need especially in trauma and Post operative care. He said he has provided medical care on Maneu vers with infantry. If i have to go to combat i know i can do Well Parker said. Dentists Are being Given additional emergency care and Field training. At the beginning of a War they would be expected to help in surgery. A dentist s ability to work outside of Mouths was demonstrated at the air Torce Hospital at Hellen Ikona Greece when casualties started pouring in from the Bobby s bar explosion. Or. Col Charles Couvillion the chief dentist was on Call that night when his Beeper went off. Restarted intravenous lines treated Burns and acted As coordinator until others came to Ike Over. Part of his residency work included the operating room. Cd enl Swift Washington Bureau contributed to this Story. Plans involve baby doctors too u � foce and other medical facilities. Most of the added Money is slated Ifo. Europe. Peace. War missions .,.anothcy major Issue involved in medical readiness is icer members retirees a by Judy Sarasohn medical writer Hen the Call came june 16. Or. It. Cmdr Michael Tedisco was delivering a baby at the Navy Hospital at Naples Italy. Within 45 minutes he was at the Airport and ready to go to the Nimitz aircraft Carrier. He was t going to deliver babies. Tedisco an obstetrician gynaecologist and chairman of the medical staff was a member of the Hospital s Surgi Cal response team called out in Case there were casualties from the hijacking of a Twa Jet from Athens. Medical equipment stored in lockers and ready to be used for a mass casualty situation was sent to the Nimitz from the Branch Navy Hospital at Simonella Sicily. Medical teams like the Naples surgical team arc representative of Navy army and air Force efforts to improve their response to terrorist attacks and other emergencies. Tedisco i presence on the Naples team reflected How the services would use baby doctors and other peace Lime health care providers for wartime medical care. Obstetricians and dentists would be expected to Assoc surgery. In the military and especially in the Navy i m a gynaecologist and obstetrician but my other role is serv ice to the Fleet. Even though i m an obstetrician and gynaecologist my background is surgery Tedisco said. Besides to disco the Twa team included a general surgeon a family fraction or three nurses an anaesthetist a medical administrator an Oral surgeon 10 corps men and a dental technician. The army sent a family practice doctor a surgeon and a gynaecologist to Naples to fill in for the Navy doctors on the response team. The Alert came on the weekend. Team members were told to be ready just in Case. We were told Don t go too far " Tedisco said. When i came in sunday there was a lot of and then the word came be at the Airport and ready to go in 45 minutes. "1 had just delivered a baby Tedisco said. That was the last 1 saw of her the Mother and the to disco s wife brought his bag of clothes to the Hospi Tal. The italian police provided an escort to Cap Dichino Airport. While on the Carrier the team helped with sick Call and other medical duties. Tedisco ran some first Aid education programs treated colds and removed moles and warts. The mass casualties never materialized. When the 39 hostages were freed by shiite moslem after 17 Days they were flown to the air Force Hospital at Wiesbaden where they were cared for by air Force and army Doc tors. But Tedesco noted we got there and set everything up. We were ready to
