European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 a the stars and stripes monday. November 19,1990crisis in therly of map Ftp a amps. Lynda Davidso master sgt. Michael Marlin superintendent of the 609th Usan contingency Hospital in Wei Brincken consults with the hospitals commander capt. Sherrie caskey.4 of hospitals prepare for Gulf casualties by Deedee Arrington Doke Kaiserslautern Bureau Ramstein a Germany four air Force contingency hospitals in England and Germany Are being geared up to handle casualties if War should erupt in the Middle East. Teams from air Force bases in Europe began getting the so called a a turnkey hospitals ready late last month according to col. Thomas m. Chester chief of medical readiness for the . Air forces in Europe. A a there a no beating around the Bush about it a Chester said. A fall the equipment is being prepared and supplies Are being moved to Alt the areas of the  army medical officials would not comment on their contingency medical plans. The air Force facilities include a renovated aircraft hangar and a former German Hospital. They Are located at Raf Bicester Raf Little Tissington and Raf Nocton Hall in England and in Wei Brincken Germany.  a Hospital has 500 Beds according to a base guide but Chester would not give the numbers of Beds at the other facilities citing Security concerns. They will remain in a High state of readiness at least a was Long As we have a major presence in the Middle East a Safe spokesman Doug Moore said. About 4,500 medical staffers will be needed if the hospitals Are pressed into service Chester said. Since Many of the Europe based personnel who normally would be sent to staff the hospitals have already been sent to the Middle East personnel will be brought in from the United states. They include Active duty air Force Reserve and air National guard personnel from various stateside hospitals. A we plan on bringing them when we re directed by the european come. Of course As a medical planner id like to see them Here now a Chester said. The potential influx of medical personnel is forcing Host bases to find housing and make plans to feed them. The Wei Brincken hospitals Host base is nearby Wei Brincken a. Raf upper hey Ford supports the facilities at Bicester and Little Tissington. Nocton Halls Hospital is served by Raf Lakenheath. A a we re looking at Long term fixes Short term fixes and anywhere in Between a Chester said. All four of the a adequate but austere hospitals can handle surgery and a variety of other specialized medical care. They can also treat patients with chemical or biological warfare injuries. Chester emphasized however that such patients a have to be decontaminated before they get on an air planet bound for hospitals in Safe countries. Air Force medical authorities want to minimize the Impact of wartime response abilities on other patients with Normal medical needs Chester said. A of course operational concerns come first. There could be situations where health care is impacted but we Are work ing contingency plans to ensure that qual fity health care is available a Chester said. Safe spends an average of $750,0001 per Hospital every year to support its eight contingency hospitals which include fal Wilities at Holstebroe Denmark Donau i Eschinger Germany and in England at Raf Feltwell and Raf Upwood. Officials Are considering leaving the contingency hospitals geared up once the Gulf crisis is Over. A it May be More  effective to keep them up where they Are now a Chester said. Red Cross beefing up in Gulf by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Stuttgart Germany a the american red Cross plans to More than triple the size of its work Force in the persian Gulf area by next february. Thirty four american red Cross workers Are spread throughout the Region now and the number should Rise to 119 in the next three months according to Joanne Jones a spokeswoman for the american red Cross european he in Stuttgart. A Small number of red Cross staff members Are preparing for departure to saudi Arabia now. The red Cross Hopes to recruit train and deploy 32 new workers by the end of january and 32 More a month later. Eventually the organization expects to set up a Headquarters with a staff of six people in Riyadh the saudi capital. George Georgakakos an american red Cross senior regional manager in Europe plans to leave Germany about dec. 17 to direct the saudi arabian operation. The staff members Middle East assignments will last from six months to a year he said. The organization is in the Region to help transmit news about medical emergencies or other crises Between operation desert shield troops and their families Jones said. As of nov. 8, it had handled 24,697 such messages to or from the Gulf area. The american red Cross also will help . Citizens trying to leave countries affected by the Middle East crisis. Beyond that red Cross officials Are considering sending a health specialist to a Hospital ship in the persian Gulf to train troops in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and provide other health services. Some red Cross staff members assigned to saudi Arabia Are leaving similar positions in Europe Georgakakos said adding a we Are doing a lot of temporary contract hire to help fill that  he said he expects the staff assignments in saudi Arabia to be difficult because of isolation heat unfamiliar moslem cultural norms and a Lack of Access to telephones. A you have to consider that they re living in very austere conditions and you done to have that in Germany a he said. A it challenges the resources and our ability to come up with a viable Structure to match what a happening Over  v american red Cross representatives have also travelled to Baghdad and met with iraqi red Crescent officials to arrange another Channel of communications for americans held hostage in Iraq Georgakakos said. An agreement Between the american red Cross and its iraqi counterpart permits each hostage and a designated relative to Exchange messages on a special red Cross form. Once that communications link is established Jones said the red Cross anticipates delivery of packages of clothes books toiletries food and Medicine to the hostages from their  . Armoured vehicles Are unloaded from flatbed railway trailers saturday at Bremerhaven Germany White waiting to be shipped to the Middle. East within the next few Days