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Embedded medics protect the health of remote weapon warriors

  • Published
  • By J.D. Levite
  • Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. --  The 2016 AMSUS Continuing Education Meeting featured a wide variety of exhibits, speeches from high ranking military officials, and important presentations. One such presentation reflected on the value of embedding medics within the 480th Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance Wing.
 

The presentation, “The Need and Value of Integrated Operational Support for Remote Weapon Strike Warriors,” featured Lt. Col. Cameron Thurman, the 480th ISR’s surgeon; Dr. Wayne Chappelle, a consultant to the surgeon general on Aeromedical Clinical Psychology for the Air Force’s School of Aerospace Medicine; and Col. James McEachen, an aerospace medicine physician for the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Despite an Air Force that’s shrinking overall Thurman’s wing has actually grown by 35,000 Airmen in the last 10 years.

“We have had a 1900% growth since 9/11,” he said. “There’s not a single kinetic operation conducted by the Department of Defense in 2015 or 2016 the 480th ISR wing was not a part of.”

These crews, who regularly operate Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Distributed Common Ground Systems, face some unique stressors.

“The decisions and the actions they take have a direct impact on who lives or who dies in the battlefield. And those men and women are going to see in full detail, in near real time, the effects of those decisions,” Thurman said.

Chappelle said they also face stressors all Airmen are familiar with, like low manning, long shift hours and heavy workloads.

He said, “Anytime you have an organization with high levels of stress and low manning you're going to get relational conflict. People underneath adverse conditions who are exhausted and tired are naturally going to experience more aggression.”

According to Chappelle even the exposure to harm can be detrimental to these Airmen. He pointed out that police officers are often put on administrative leave just because they were involved in stressful situations. He said, “We know that engaging in the act of killing or being a part of various strenuous or difficult events can ring somebody's bell psychologically.”

In order to address these injuries, the Air Force has embedded medics into the wing. The medics work as a combined force featuring a medical provider, a chaplain and a mental health provider, so they can cover all the medical and spiritual needs Airmen.

“This is an effective model,” Thurman said. “Every branch of the military has embedded medics. RPA and DCGS are the fastest growing weapon systems in the United States Air Force. And the operation of these weapon systems comes with a currently unknown human cost.”

These integrated medical teams continue to address the stressors 480th ISR Airmen face every day, and for the foreseeable future there is a need for embedded medics to remain with these crews.

“There is no silver bullet. There is no one fix,” Thurman said. “The way I look at it is I've given the Airmen a 1000 pound rucksack to carry around. If I can remove 10 pounds from that rucksack then I have succeeded. And every single day I try to take another 10 pounds out of that rucksack.”