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HomeNews101st Airborne Division service members stick to standards, health practices in Liberia

101st Airborne Division service members stick to standards, health practices in Liberia

Written by Spc. Caitlyn Byrne
27th Public Affairs Detachment

United States Africa CommandMonrovia, Liberia – Whether they are learning new techniques to stay mentally resilient, exercising to stay physically strong, or washing their hands and applying hand sanitizer to prevent illness, service members deployed under Joint Forces Command – United Assistance, in Monrovia, Liberia, are always taking steps to stay healthy. The health of Soldiers is considered a top priority.

It is imperative that service members maintain a high level of health and physical well being so that in turn, they can provide the optimum amount of aid to the people and government of Liberia.

Spc. William Ferguson, native of Oklahoma City, Okla., health specialist for Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, performs his routine check of the Heat Category wet-bulb thermometer, outside the Barclay Training Center medical building, Monrovia, Liberia, Jan. 12, 2015. Every hour Ferguson checks the temperature on camp to help prevent Soldier heat casualties, refills the bleach buckets and helps maintain the overall health of his fellow Soldiers while deployed for Operation United Assistance. Operation United Assistance is a Department of Defense operation in Liberia to provide logistics, training and engineering support to U.S. Agency for International Development-led efforts to contain the Ebola virus outbreak in western Africa.  (Spc. Caitlyn Byrne/U.S. Army)
Spc. William Ferguson, native of Oklahoma City, Okla., health specialist for Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, performs his routine check of the Heat Category wet-bulb thermometer, outside the Barclay Training Center medical building, Monrovia, Liberia. (Spc. Caitlyn Byrne/U.S. Army)

Capt. Tyler Mark, force health protection officer for the JFC-UA surgeon cell, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), said that Soldiers deployed for Operation United Assistance are keeping up with their personal health practice requirements such as frequent hand washing and temperature checks.

“We have multiple checks and balances in place to ensure that Soldiers are staying healthy,” said the Kenosha, Wisconsin, native. “We’ve found that one of the most effective methods to have Soldiers comply with health standards is command influence, where if the commanding general says that his number one priority is health protection, Soldiers are even more likely to listen and follow instruction.”

Spc. William Ferguson, native of Oklahoma City, health specialist for Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), takes stock of his supply cart in the Barclay Training Center medical building, Monrovia, Liberia, Jan. 12, 2015. Ferguson said he enjoys the work he does while deployed for Operation United Assistance; he appreciates being able to see the product of his work as a healthcare specialist reflected in the good health of his fellow Soldiers. Operation United Assistance is a Department of Defense operation in Liberia to provide logistics, training and engineering support to U.S. Agency for International Development-led efforts to contain the Ebola virus outbreak in western Africa. (Spc. Caitlyn Byrne/U.S. Army)
Spc. William Ferguson, native of Oklahoma City, health specialist for Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), takes stock of his supply cart in the Barclay Training Center medical building, Monrovia, Liberia. (Spc. Caitlyn Byrne/U.S. Army)

But Mark said that command influence is more of an assurance than a necessity; Soldiers are more than willing to maintain proper health protection practices on their own, using the multiple bleach buckets located outside community buildings, washing their hands frequently, using hand sanitizer, carrying their required personal protection equipment and performing temperature checks twice daily.

Spc. William Ferguson, health specialist for Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 101st, said that he felt like his work as a health specialist deployed to Barclay Training Center in Monrovia, is actually making a difference in helping keep Soldiers healthy.

“Part of my duties here are to make sure that all the bleach buckets are filled,” said Ferguson, an Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, native. “I check all the buckets spread around camp each hour, and I probably refill them about every two hours. It feels good to be a part of keeping everyone healthy here, and make a difference. People need to wash their hands and if I wasn’t doing my job, well, then that might not happen; people could get sick.”

There is a whole JFC-UA preventative medicine system in place to ensure that not only are Soldiers following proper health practices, but that they are provided with the resources and clean environment in which to live and operate, said Mark.

“It is a combined effort from the 61st Preventative Medicine Detachment and the 463rd Veterinary Detachment, who both fall under the 86th Combat Support Hospital,” said Mark. “The 61st conducts vector surveillance, vector sprays, dining facility health inspections and food and water safety, while the 463rd conducts more specific food and water testing of the food and water that is coming in to each camp to ensure that it is up to standard.”

Teams of two to four preventative measure and veterinary health specialists are sent to conduct weekly site visits of BTC and all other camps in Liberia, said Mark.

Capt. Austin Duckwiler, native of Davenport, Iowa, department joint automations management officer, Signal Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), washes his hands thoroughly with a bleach-water solution before entering the dining facility at Barclay Training Center, Monrovia, Liberia, Jan. 13, 2015. Buckets filled with a bleach-water solution are stationed outside of camp facilities with a higher personnel traffic volume to promote hand washing and prevent spread of any possible bacterial transmissions. Operation United Assistance is a Department of Defense operation in Liberia to provide logistics, training and engineering support to U.S. Agency for International Development-led efforts to contain the Ebola virus outbreak in western Africa. (Spc. Caitlyn Byrne/U.S. Army)
Capt. Austin Duckwiler, native of Davenport, Iowa, Department Joint Automations Management Officer, Signal Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), washes his hands thoroughly with a bleach-water solution before entering the dining facility at Barclay Training Center, Monrovia, Liberia, (Spc. Caitlyn Byrne/U.S. Army)

“Preventative medicine teams will walk around a site, checking for things like the proper dispersal and use of bed nets, the cleanliness of personal hygiene areas, dining facilities and sleeping areas,” Mark said. “They will go in and check the quality of the water and food being served to Soldiers, as well as randomly ask Soldiers if they are carrying the proper personal protective equipment (PPE).”

Mark said the health of Soldiers is paramount to the success of the mission and that JFC-UA has a complex and layered system in place to ensure Soldiers are both taken care of and taking care of themselves.

“Not only do we have our preventative medicine teams, we also have Inspector General teams conduct similar, independent assessments as well,” he said. “They mostly check with lower command leaders in charge at the various camps to gage the level of compliance with health practices. We also have the mayor cells of each camp ensure that there are Soldiers refilling the bleach buckets, conducting temperature checks and that sanitation contractors are doing their part as well.”

Mark’s team also has a way of tracking all the information that the preventative medicine teams collect.

“There is a lot of information to disseminate, so we use a Disease and Non-Battle Injury Report. Each JFC-UA camp sends up a daily report of the number of Soldiers who go to sick call and what symptoms they have. Based on those numbers we can create a fairly robust tracking system that we can adjust and evaluate. It is both site specific and a good picture of how our entire operation is running.”

As far as ensuring whether all these systems and preventative medicine practices are actually being used by Soldiers, Mark said that Col. Todd Vento, profis senior infectious disease subject matter expert from Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, came up with an anonymous survey to gauge exactly how closely Soldiers are following the recommended health practices.

“Col. Vento came up with an extensive survey that asked Soldiers to verify whether or not they are doing things like taking their anti-malarial medicine daily, are they getting their temperatures checked, are they using Deet or bug spray, are they wearing the proper treated uniforms,” said Mark. “We received about 600 surveys back and all showed good signs of compliance with the standards that we have established.”

Mark said they have found Malaria-carrying mosquitos in all of the JFC-UA camps in Liberia and the potential attack rate of the mosquitos is between 11 to 50 percent, meaning between 11 to 50 percent of Soldiers deployed in Liberia run the risk of getting bitten by a mosquito infected with Malaria. The number of Soldiers reported having Malaria is still zero.

“This situation is unique,” said Mark. “This is a different kind of deployment, this being a humanitarian mission with a huge emphasis on medical issues. It differs from the usual deployment because it is a very controlled environment when it comes to public health and preventative measures. There is little troop migration and when Soldiers do go out on mission there are numerous measures in place to ensure that they come back healthy. A far as force health protection, standards are always maintained, no matter the situation.”

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