Medical team provides services to CJTF-HOA personnel

Written by Air Force Staff Sgt. Jennifer Redente
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
Jan 15, 2008

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti – Navy Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) Michael J. Barker (left) inserts a laparoscope into a patient’s abdomen to repair hernias and views a television monitor to see what the camera views inside the patient’s abdomen. Barker, a Camden, N.Y., native, is the general surgeon and senior medical officer for the Seth Michaud Emergency Medical and Dental Facility at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti. Barker is deployed from National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Medical professionals at the EMF provide medical services to servicemembers supporting the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa mission to prevent conflict, promote regional stability, protect coalition interests and prevail against extremism. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Redente (RELEASED)
(Large Image. Hi-Res Image.)

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti – The primary mission of Expeditionary Medical Force 12 is to provide medical services to more than 1,800 personnel assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa at the Seth Michaud Emergency Medical and Dental Facility at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti.

“The primary function of the EMF in this deployed environment is to provide acute medical and dental care to CJTF-HOA and Camp Lemonier personnel,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) Michael J. Barker, EMF 12 general surgeon and senior medical officer. “We also provide emergent and limited elective surgical care. In support of this mission, we provide preventive medicine services, physical therapy, pharmacy, laboratory and radiological services.”

In a given week, the EMF, staffed by 35 Sailors, sees an average of 315 patients for medical services.

“The most common medical service provided is military sick call, which usually treats respiratory infections, gastro-intestinal illness, dermatologic conditions and orthopedic injuries,” said Barker. “The EMF is not equipped to provide specialty care due to limited resources such as diagnostic equipment.”

When servicemembers require more assistance than what is available at Camp Lemonier patients are seen at Bouffard French military hospital in Djibouti, which has the equipment to treat their symptoms appropriately.

EMF 12 is able to assist not only fellow Sailors, but their fellow servicemembers as well.

“All special operations personnel depend on conventional military units like the Camp Lemonier EMF to provide surgical care and support for our warriors,” said Army Col. (Dr.) Michael P. Mouri, Special Operations Command flight surgeon and diving medical officer. “We are most fortunate and appreciative to have a medical and nursing staff commanded by Navy Capt. (Dr.) Julie L. Miavez to care for our operators, other joint forces and contractors stationed here.”

Recently a patient assigned to SOCCE had an elective surgery, which enabled him to not only stay in the deployed location, but the capabilities of the EMF provided him a short recuperation.

“Laparoscopic surgery offers many advantages over older, traditional techniques,” he said. “For the patient, it is minimally invasive, meaning less trauma to the tissues, reduced pain and faster recovery time with a decreased chance of infection.

“If Dr. Michael J. Barker, who completed a laparoscopic surgical fellowship, was not here, we would have had to evacuate our senior enlisted advisor back to the United States for surgery and lost his services for two to three months.” said the SOCCE surgeon. “Instead, he gets all four hernias repaired in a combat zone theater and returns to work in two days. That kind of service is invaluable for a tactical line commander, especially in special operations where our staff is traditionally very small in number.”

Being able to assist patients and their commanders, like the SOCCE community, is part of the many pleasures the EMF 12 staff share, but there are other enjoyments this deployment has brought to the staff as well.

“I like the camaraderie that you get with the medical team, which entails corpsmen, doctors and nurses from all over,” said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew E. Thompson, EMF 12 hospital corpsman. “It’s a job of constant learning and evolving to become a better technician or a better corpsman.”

As with similar enjoyments, EMF 12 also share their dislikes of being away from their family, which included the holiday season during the six-month deployment, but the medical professionals understand it is a part of the serving their country.

“The chance to serve in a location where people are truly making a difference in the lives of others, and hopefully, those changes will be such that all of our contributions will help to increase the security of our nations and contribute to the welfare of all humanity,” said Chief Petty Officer Shane O. Chung, an EMF 12 independent duty hospital corpsman.

CJTF-HOA’s mission is to provide support in preventing conflict, promoting regional stability, protecting coalition interests and prevailing against extremism in east Africa.