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FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq (April 4, 2008) - Residents
of Abu Amer, a small village in Iraq's Wasit province, received
medical assistance March 28 from coalition forces during a medical
civil action program designed to provide basic primary care.
Using a school as a makeshift clinic, Company A, 2nd Battalion,
69th Armor Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion, 76th Field
Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, secured
the area before announcing, via loudspeaker, the opportunity for
residents to receive health care and humanitarian assistance.
People poured in from the streets, forming a line just outside the
school.
Army Maj. (Dr.) Howard Curlin, 703rd Brigade Support Battalion
surgeon; Army Capt. (Dr.) Jacob Turnquist, 4th Brigade Combat Team
surgeon; and Army Maj. Marilyn Lazarz, an Army public health nurse
with Company B, 415th Civil Affairs, led the team examining,
diagnosing, treating and advising the patients, along with the help
of nine medics.
At the initial screening station, combat medics assisted by
translators interviewed each patient for medical history and
previous treatments and noted their ailments. Then the medics
measured each patient's vital signs - pulse, temperature and blood
pressure.
The people who received care were grateful, said Lazarz, who has
been a public health nurse for 18 years. "Coalition forces continue
to build relationships (and) make a difference in their everyday
lives," she said.
As the day continued, medical personnel saw 212 patients,
ranging from infants to elderly, with various ailments. Medical
issues ranged from common joint and back pain to infections and
gastrointestinal disorders.
"We're only equipped with a limited supply of medications," said
Turnquist, a pediatrician by trade. "We know going in there that
we're potentially going to see hundreds of people."
Most of the medications handed out were over-the-counter
medicines, said the Rockford, Ill., native. Cold medicines,
multivitamins, antibiotics and topical medicines for rashes were
distributed.
Each patient received an evaluation, treatment, medicine if
needed and humanitarian assistance such as food, soccer balls,
Beanie Babies or candy, all donated by soldiers in the support
battalion, said Capt. Casey Woody, commander of Company C, 703rd
Brigade Support Battalion.
"We went in there assessing what the people were coming in with,
what complaints they had, what their age range was and what their
demographics were," Turnquist said. "That information itself is
helpful hopefully down the road, when we can provide that to the
Ministry of Health to see if they can get more long-term medical
support to that area."
Overall, Woody said, he believes the event achieved its
objective.
"I'm proud of my soldiers and how they conducted themselves,"
said the father of two from Plymouth, Mich. "If you can help a
person, it's a good feeling. I think we're doing a lot of things,
and we're working in the right direction with the (embedded
provincial reconstruction team) and civil affairs. ... We know
we're not going to fix this problem in a year, but we want to get
them on the right start."
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