European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Page 11 letters dear Ann Landers As a freshman at notre Dame i went to a lecture you gave. You touched this undergraduate heart. It will be our secret just How Long ago that was. You struck me As a caring person and i need your help. The peace corps was found Din 1961. Since that time 121,000 americans have gone Oft to serve their country in 94 nations around the Globe. That s the Good . Here is the bad  More than 70,000 files of peace corps volunteers have been lost or mislaid. It is essential that we find our missing  Are especially interested in those volunteers of the 60s who helped establish the Standard of excellence that we Are striving to maintain today. The address is returned peace corps 1319 f Street n.w., suite 900,Washington, . 20004. Thanks. E. Timothy Carroll executive director dear Tim Here s your letter. Now get ready for a Load of mail. You re going to be swamped. The peace corps does a great Job and notre Dame is a magic name to me. Glad to help. Dear Ann Landers i m not asking for advice. It s quite apparent that iwas taken in and the damage is done. But maybe i can spare others. I married a con Man. After the shame and guilt sub sided i began to think a Little More rationally. I wonder How Many others have had this experience. I m sure there Are Many but they Are too embarrassed to admit it. I am a Well respected professional woman with Beautiful Home Fine family and Good friends. I had been a single Parent for 10 years which made me the Ideal target. Women beware a tall Good looking retired Mili tary Man May be looking for you. He  fabulous dancer and smooth talker and will make you feel like million. His line is irresistible and his ultimate goal is to move  you May be a Little lonely and envision life As mor Complete with a partner. He will Tell you that you Are the perfect mate. Don t fall for it. After a while you la wonder Why he does t Intro Duce you to his friends. The reason is he does t have any. His hours Are erratic. You will never know where he is or what he s up to. His excuses Are incredible. Heis the world s Best liar. I was Lucky. I found out about this scoundrel s other wives and had my marriage annulled before he got everything. I hear that he s on the prowl again. Ladies beware slow learner in Al Pas Odear Elpaso thanks for the bulletin. If any of you run into this creep shut the door so fast that he will catch pneumonia from the Breeze. Dear Ann Landers what should i do about my son s Girlfriend he invites her to come for dinner every night and i am sick of it. I work downtown and my husband works  evenings i d like to come Home and snack out of the fridge. I can t do this because i always have  my son knows How to Cook and i be told him to prepare a meal and then but he refuses say she s tired after work. Well so am i. Any answers san Anton Odear . When you Stop being a Doormat people will Stop wiping their feet on you. Prepare meals for yourself when you feel like it and let your son fix whatever he wants for himself and his Girlfriend. End of problem. Explanation Given on of nursing shortage there has been a lot of Media attention about the Nurs ing shortage in the air Force. I just read a talking paper concerning the National nursing shortage which said the department of defense Dod was 27.000 nurses Short. I assume the personnel listing these figures recounting Only rns and not the medical technicians corpsmen in All branches of the military. Being a member of the air Force i find this whole situation distressing. For the past several years More and More procedures Are being taken away from the medical technicians. These medical technicians Are no longer proficient in procedures they will be performing during a wartime disaster situation. Many of the younger technicians will not know what to do because they never had the Opportunity to learn Many of the things we no longer Are allowed to do. If you look at the history of the medical technician you will see they Are the ones who Are at the front with the combat soldiers airmen and marines not the nurses and doctors. That makes sense because the nurses and doctors Are More valuable resources an should be conserved if at All possible. The alarming thing is the air Force lost 500 medical technician slots this year one of the hardest hit career Fields in the of and is scheduled for More next  the information i have read from the air Force surgeon general stresses the importance of not losing any nurses or doctors slots due to the detrimental Impact it will have on readiness. About five years ago Many Hospital wards were adequately staffed with medical technicians and  Ward i currently work on had 10 medical technicians seven nurses one Coic and one charge  we have one Coic one charge nurse 10 nurses and five medical technicians. As you can see that Isa drastic change. I have the old duty schedules and Manning documents to prove it. With the big push for Quality Assurance the military is relying More on licensed providers during peace time. The key word Here is peacetime. I know of sever Al medical technicians who were participants of the Grenada invasion. I do not know of any nurses who were with the troops when we invaded. The people in charge Are in the process of completely civilian zing the air Force medical and Nurs ing service. We Are Here to prepare for War so that our readiness acts As an effective deterrent. The cur rent situation requires the medical technicians to work 12-hour shifts Many Days not getting time to take a break. True Many people in the air Force work Long hours but they usually get to take a breaker can slow Down enough to get a second wind. These medical technicians do not have that Benefit because we Are taking care of people who Are ill or injured and cannot care for themselves. That is our priority. With this Era of Short staffing the medical technician has Little to look Forward to except self satisfaction with a Job Well done. I do not have a complaint As such. I am a Little frustrated with the obvious snub by the air Force surgeon general. He appears much More concern Dover his doctors and nurses than with other members of the medical service. When it comes Down to it the people in charge Are going to need All of us not just the licensed people. It s time the people in charge realize the significance of the role the medical technician plays in peacetime As Well As in wartime. With the current situation i guess it s True the of medical service is becoming an officer corps. Name and location withheld editor s note eng. Gen. Paul d. Gleason command surgeon he Safe replies thank you for taking the time and Effort to writ about this urgent Issue you Are obviously dedicated and committed to excellence while it is True the department of defense is Short of the estimated number of nurses needed to handle a National emergency the air Force is fully staffed tothe number authorized by Congress except in some specialities e.g., anaesthesia. We cannot address the Issue of your Ward staffing without knowing your duty location. It is possible that the severity of your patients illnesses changed creating a need for More professional nurses As care givers. The aim of Quality Assurance is not to reduce the proce dures a medical technician is allowed to perform but to guarantee the patient receives the Best possible care. To Ward this end we have developed More rigorous training programs both at the Basic school and locally. The loss of 500 medical technicians was the medical service s share of the air Force Rollback  this was a personnel program and not an authorization slots program. The medical service enlisted authorizations have not been decreased but Are scheduled to grow in fiscal year 1989. Therefore this 500 technician loss will be replaced through recruiting technical school quotas. We share your concern for medical technician train ing. We agree that air Force specially code Aasc 902xo medical service specialist technician personnel must be prepared to assist physicians and nurses to care for casualties during peacetime and  medical specialists and technicians Are permitted to perform duties listed in specially training Standard 902xo. These duties include such critical tasks As starting intravenous infusions treating Shock controlling bleeding and suturing lacerations. Nursing supervisors at All Levels Are responsible for ensuring their enlisted nursing personnel Are in fact trained and competent to support nursing duties both in a fixed and Field Hospital environment. Only a Small percentage of Aasc 902xos function independently of a physician and an even smaller number of air Force cos Are assigned to combat related Fiel units. These cos Are Independent duty medical technicians who Complete an intensive eight week course to help prepare them for their Independent duty assignment. We agree that multiple duty hours without a break can demoralize nursing staff. Air Force manpower standards provide staffing for eight hour shifts. Insaf hospitals 12-hour shifts for enlisted personnel Are frequently the technicians Choice. The air staff has recognized the role of medical technicians and is developing a test program to permit selected cos to enrol in an associate degree and nursing program. These programs will be publicize later when details Are available. Pen pals please place my name in your pen pal listing. Merla f. Perez to. Bulado. Gui Huangan Negros Oriental Philippines i m a turkish Man who likes to travel and Cor respond with people All Over the world. Cengiz Sahin . 94 Nate of Ankara Turkey i m 18 and a student. I like Reading and writing pen pals. Louella j. Legaspi . Box sm-04 . Mesa Manila Philippines please place my name in your pen pals list. My hobbies Are Reading playing Ball games and writ ing. Jovelyn Cupas Purok #1 Batangan Valencia Buk Dnon 8709 Philippines i m a 34-year-old professional Secretary for an investment broker. I enjoy being involved in Church and Community activities. Julie jewel 211 North Elm Jackson Michigan 49201 i m 30 years old. I like playing the guitar playing Badminton. Scrabble and Reading the Bible. Marydel Reales co first Assembly of god 6228 Lazi siquijor Philippines military address the stars and stripes Apo 09211. 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