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05 January 2005

U.S. Field Hospitals Ready for Delivery, Set Up in Relief Zone

Prevention of secondary deaths focus of military's medical effort

By Rebecca Ford Mitchell
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The U.S. military is preparing to establish a variety of medical centers in the countries ravaged by the December 26, 2004, tsunami in the Indian Ocean region.

The United States stands ready to provide up to eight field hospitals in a relatively short time frame, Dr. William Wikenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a January 4 Pentagon briefing.

Over the last 10 years, the Air Force has developed modular 25-bed hospitals, including medical equipment and ambulances, which can be flown in on two C-17 cargo planes, according to Lieutenant General George Peach Taylor, Air Force surgeon general.  One such hospital, he said, is currently sitting on the ramp at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo ready to be deployed when requested.

The modular hospitals can be fitted together to create 50-, 75- or 100- and 200-bed facilities, Taylor said, adding that the hospitals can come with or without military medical personnel to operate them. 

The centers that will be established in Southeast Asia will be largely staffed by local medical providers, Wikenwerder explained, because the U.S. military is assisting the host nations and recognizes the need for a common language between care providers and patients.

“We need to know where to go, we need to be able to get into whatever location we’re going, and we need to be able to hand it off to a competent authority” after setting up a field hospital and demonstrating how the equipment works, Taylor said.

The Air Force also has available for use even smaller, remote location hospital units that can be carried in on a single C-130 cargo plane. 

At the other end of the scale, the Navy’s hospital ship, the USNS Mercy, with 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms, might also make the two-to-three-week journey from its port in San Diego to the disaster area. 

Navy Admiral Thomas Fargo, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in a separate January 4 briefing that the Mercy was, that day, undergoing sea trials to ready for possible deployment. 

“We think that there may be an opportunity to configure the Mercy with a humanitarian assistance crew -- that might be staffed significantly by nongovernmental organizations and people with significant medical capability who can also provide relief in other forms,” Fargo said.

Wikenwerder also announced that between 100 and 150 additional U.S. forensic experts would be sent to the region in response to Secretary of State Colin Powell’s first-hand assessment that more such help was needed.  The United States already has two forensic teams in the relief zone.

Wikenwerder said the U.S. military is concerned with preventing additional deaths among the tsunami survivors.  It is making its medical assistance plans through on-going assessments and in anticipation of possible injuries and illness that can occur in disaster conditions. 

“Certainly, top among [anticipated concerns] are waterborne diarrheal illnesses, things like E. coli,” he explained. “It's the same kind of thing that you would get from traveler's diarrhea.  But that's part of the normal body materials that, once it gets out into the water, can be infectious and affect people very easily.  Also, cholera, a very serious disease, [is a possible problem]. Hepatitis A is another waterborne infectious disease.”  

“And then, of course,” he continued, “there are respiratory diseases -- the typical viruses and bacteria that affect people in general.  Certainly, measles is another possibility.  And then, also in the coming weeks, we will have to be looking out for things like dengue and malaria.” 

“There are also the problems of injuries that can occur with so much loose material around; and during efforts to reconstruct or clear lots of heavy materials, people get hurt,” Wikenwerder said, while noting that, so far during the humanitarian effort, no outbreak of disease has been reported.

The defense official said that the U.S. military believes it can be most helpful in two areas of medical assistance: in creating medical facilities where they are needed that can be used by medical providers of the host nations as well as nongovernmental organizations; and in coordinating logistics.

“Getting the right aid to the right place and the right person at the right time is really the key task at hand, and this applies to medicines, vaccines, and other medical materials,” Wikenwerder said.

“Our hearts and thoughts go out to the people of that whole region,” he said.  “We’re here to help.  We want to help.  We’re prepared to help.”

For additional information go to “U.S. Response to Tsunami and Earthquake in Asia” at: http://usinfo.state.gov/sa/south_asia/tsunamis.html

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)