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Joint Task Force Bravo Brings Medical Care to More than 800 in Honduras

  • Published
  • By Capt. Zachary Anderson
  • DVIDS
September 24, 2013 --   Members of Joint Task Force Bravo partnered with the Honduran Ministry of Health to provide medical care to more than 800 people in the remote villages of Usilibis and Raya in Honduras, during a Medical Readiness Training Exercise last week.

The training exercises "allow us to maintain our expeditionary capability while also assisting the Honduran government in meeting some of the health care needs of its people," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Jason Tompkins, Medical Operations director. "We are able to work together ... to bring [medical] care to a part of the country where [it] is not readily available."

Medical staff from Joint Task Force Bravo provided 820 people with classes on preventative health, including instruction on proper hygiene and nutrition. They also provided dental care, well-being checkups, basic immunizations and medications, and performed several minor medical procedures.

"An operation like this serves to strengthen [our] relationship with our host nation and show that we truly care about the well-being of the people of this country," said Tompkins. "These training exercises are a way we can give back to our host country while at the same time confirming our own capability to respond to disasters or humanitarian assistance missions."

In addition to the routine medical care, members of Joint Task Force Bravo were confronted with two serious trauma cases and arranged for both patients to be medically evacuated from the area to receive advanced medical care.

"The fact that we were there to be able to provide emergency medical care and medevac these two patients is proof of the type of difference we can make. Our medical experts did their jobs, and in doing so, quite possibly saved two lives in the process," said Tompkins.

Joint Task Force Bravo conducts Medical Readiness Training Exercises throughout Central America each year in support of U.S. Southern Command's humanitarian and disaster relief programs in order to strengthen civil-military cooperation between the United States and nations in the region.


Joint Task Force Bravo treated more than 11,000 patients in Central America last year in coordination with the U.S. Offices of Security Cooperation and host nation Department of Health officials in all seven Central American countries