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Biomedical Sciences Corps saves lives through prevention

  • Published
  • By J.D. Levite
  • Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs

This week, January 23-27, is Biomedical Science Corps Appreciation Week, which gives medical communities around the Air Force a chance to recognize these hard-working men and women.

 

The Biomedical Sciences Corps is one of five officer corps in the Air Force Medical Service and the most diverse group. Officers in the BSC combine more than a dozen different and distinct careers under one banner. They cover everything from physical therapy to psychology to aerospace physiology, and those specialties can often be broken down even further.

 

Bioenvironmental engineering, for example, is a large section of the BSC that focuses on a wide variety of missions and goals, including environmental and occupational health.

 

Maj. Raymond Mak, a bioenvironmental engineer and Chief of Environmental Health Programs at the Air Force Medical Support Agency, said occupational health visits industrial shops, looks at their health hazards, and makes sure there’s a control measure there. “We make sure they’re using any chemicals in a safe way. Control measures include engineering, where we can install ventilation systems, administration, where we can provide training, and personal protective equipment, where we can provide gloves, goggles and whatever else they may need.”

 

He said environmental health covers a wide variety of things including, but not limited to, drinking water, emerging contaminants, vapor intrusion, radon and community exposures.

 

“The last part of our job is readiness,” Mak said. “If security forces identify a package with an unknown substance on it, they give us a call. We suit up, grab the right equipment and identify the source. We recommend the right PPE for the responders entering the contaminated area and make sure they’re protected from any potential hazard.” They also conduct health risk assessment with commanders to enhance decision making.

 

Mak’s job, along with all the other members of the BSC, is all about preventive medicine.

 

He said, “We make sure we’re building a healthy force. If we’re doing our job right and everyone follows our instructions, no one is getting sick from chemicals during their day-to-day work. We reduce the number of people with illnesses, saving time and money for everyone.”