European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 06, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday augusts 1994 the stats and stripes Page 3 Earth based Tare goes out Heads up for or . Air Force senior airman Billy Roberts of Charleston w.va., throws a football be Side . Cargo plane just before leaving Kigali Rwanda on Friday for rest and recreation. About 260 . Personnel Are in Kigali aiding the Relief Mission for rwandan refugees. Cold War cows ddn f sweat the soviets offer army tests Omaha neb. A a Hoo note to history the army says scientists during the cold War sneaked up on cows and sprayed them with deodorant to test How easy it would be for enemies to spoil the nation s meat Supply. The army had said in june that government scientists went to stockyards in Omaha and five other cities in 1964 and1965, and used Large generators to re lease a Mist containing a harmless Micro organism. But in a letter to rep. Peter Hoagland,d-neb., the army said scientists used Only 4-ounce cans of Ordinary deodorant. During the cold War people were seriously concerned about whether the soviets might come Over and spread foot and Mouth disease throughout our livestock Hoagland said wednesday. We think it s pretty funny really visualizing these Guys sneaking into stalls watching where they Are walking and then spraying Cindy Killion Washington Bureau Washington top defense department medical officials predicted to lawmakers thursday that Tel Medicine in which patients get their care from specialists via satellite communications will Sori be the Rule the lawmakers in turn gave the idea a rousing thumbs up and pledged their support in breaking Loose additional funds for the is of invention and in this ease she s done 3 very Good Job rep. Pat Schroeder d-colo., said during the House armed service research and technology subcommittee was referring to the combi nation of the military personnel draw Down which has decreased the number of physician specialists and the recent far Flung humanitarian and peacekeeping operations in which relatively Small num Bers of personnel Are depl6yedm Remote and medically isolated locations. The military is using a Tel Medicine wit the 6th Fleet Hospital in Croatia and with . Peacekeeping troops in Medicine was also used in Somaliland proved invaluable in treating sick and wounded personnel especially after the oct. 3 firelight in which about 75 army rangers were wounded the medi Cal officials said. Eighteen other rangers were while Tel Medicine is not a new concept improvements in technology have broken past the old notion of two doctors talking through television Cam eras and sharing Grainy a rays transmitted Over satellite Waves a process that sometimes took hours to Complete. The officials said that it is possible to Send entire visual diagnostic packages i minutes from the patient s Remote location to a specialist at a major medical Center. These packages can be a combination of fundamental lab tests pathology slides High Resolution a rays digital photo graphs and video images. The specialist then can provide advice instantly to the treating physician that Willet Tjie patient the Correct care faster and could avoid the sometimes painfully slow . Gen. Alcide m. Lanoue the army surgeon general said that in the past year he has seen incredible improvement in the digital image Quality and in the Speed that these images can be the same time he said the Cost of the equipment and satellite time has been on a downward said Tel Medicine was first actively used in operation desert storm. The or instance a / corpsman on a nuclear sub one of the to loneliest medical jobs around can he Wei Access a full diagnostic and treatment team for health affairs communications transmitter too the space of a Cedar Chest and the satellite time ran $30 to $40 a minute. Now that same transmitter is the size of a briefcase the purchasing Cost is 66 percent lower and Trie charges for the satellite time have decreased along the same proportions he said. Or. Steven Joseph assistant Secretary of defense for health affairs said the de creased costs have made Tel Medicine practical at any location. For instance corpsman on a nuclear sub one of the loneliest medical jobs around can no Access a full diagnostic and treatment team.". Lanoue said that even the routine peacetime treatment which is filled with ponderous bureaucracy and paperwork has already seen changes aha he foresees More. When i was in practice As an orthopaedic surgeon it was common for a patient to wait six months or More to Sec me. It took that Long to get the patient from the Pri Mary treatment physician to a specialist. With Tel Medicine that Barrier is technology has the potential to re Engineer the practice of but Joseph could t give a ready answer on How much the defense department is spending on the software computers and satellite equipment since the costs Are scattered throughout various depart ments of the our research has shown however when it s used in an area of 5,000 or More troops it saves Money. So Over the years this has the potential of saving billions of dollars he said. That seemed to be enough proof for the lawmakers. We want to see this keep improving even if it Means setting up a special fund for Tel Medicine Schroeder said. We want to Sec the trend military Media Al staffs shift focus to rapid deployments by Mark Kinkade staff writer Heidelberg Germany rapid deployment capability is fast becoming the Mission of the military in Europe and the military medical system is Chang ing to meet those needs says a top Mili. Tary medical official in Europe. Maj. Gen. Michael j. Scotti jr., com Mander of the 7th medical come said the command is stripping its massive cold War Era medical system in favor of a Quick moving medical corps designed to operate in hot spots around the world. They can deploy without coordination. Delays and with professionals who Are integral to the training and preparation of units on the Short string Scotti told a crowd gathered for the command s inactivation ceremony Friday in Heidelberg. . Army Europe commander Gen. David m. Maddox and German medical officers took part in the ceremony at Campbell Barracks. Although the command does Toffi. Dally inactivate until oct. 15, preparations have begun to turn Over most of its functions to the 30th medical brigade in Heidelberg and the european health services support area in Lan Stuhl according to a command statement. The changes to. Europe s _ military health care system come As Many medical facilities across Usa eur close their doors. When the army reaches its draw Down goals in Europe military members will be cared for in three major hospitals 29 medical clinics and 36 dental clinics Maddox said. _ at its Peak during the cold War the 7th medical come was the largest for Ward deployed medical command in . Military the statement said. The command consisted of 11,875 sol Diers and civilians at 11 hospitals 61 health clinics 27 troop medical clinics 93 dental clinics and 15 veterinary activities Maddox said during the ceremony. On an average Day the medical com Mand logged 9,725 clinic visits filled 860 Hospital Beds helped with 26 births filled 11,953 prescriptions and made 5,057 a rays. In essence the command is dividing its medical care sys tem into two categories contingency missions and Community medical care. F according to the statement the 30th medical brigade will be responsible for deploying medical units to support operations such As the current Relief Mission to Rwanda. The medical brigade will own and command medical forces assigned to it Scotti said allowing the units to move out on Short notice to establish medical facilities in Forward areas. The health services support area will be responsible for the Community health care system in Europe and will be funded directly eliminating Competition with bother Quality Jpn life issues Scotti said. The army Navy and air Force in Europe have joined forces to create a Large health care system for the european re Gion the general said. We Are smaller but that s not 4he Story,".Scotti told he audience at the Campbell Barracks Parade ground. We Are different and that difference will allow us to respond not Only to the new Mission of Usa eur but to the Chal Lenges of providing health services Fth an environment of growing technology maturing patients and limited growth of re
