MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- Caring for the health of base personnel can mean many different things in the medical world, but to the public health professionals with the 35th Aerospace Medicine Squadron, this means helping prevent illness before it can affect the community.
It's the job of these specialists to protect base personnel and their dependents from a vast array of illnesses and diseases by proactively minimizing health risks to the base population.
The duties of these Airmen include overseeing medical clearances for deploying personnel, advising healthcare providers on workplace hazards, and conducting food safety and defense programs. They also assess risks associated with production, transportation, storage, preparation and serving of food, and the control of disease transmission through patient interviews, investigations and community outreach programs.
“Our mission is to keep everyone safe on base from occupational hazards, vector borne diseases and food poisoning, as well as breaking the chain of infection,” said Staff Sgt. Amabely Carrillo, 35th AMDS public health NCO in charge. “Our ultimate focus is preventing disease, disability and premature death.”
To accomplish this, Misawa’s public health team does everything from educating the base population on safety procedures and food inspections, to investigating hazardous materials and sanitary standards.
“Maintaining everyone's safety is a priority for us,” said Carrillo. “We do this by inspecting all food and public facilities for any contamination, trapping mosquitoes to test for Zika virus, Dengue fever, etc., as well as informing and educating base personnel on any diseases that are a concern at the time or hazards they may be working with.”
Responsible for preventing and controlling the spread of disease, the public health team constantly monitors conditions and potential health threats around Misawa, while carefully following disease trends and identifying public health issues.
“My favorite part of the job would be going out and trapping mosquitoes,” said Airman Klarizza Yu, a 35th AMDS public health technician. “It’s an opportunity to get out of the office and do something different, and if I do catch a mosquito and it’s carrying a disease, it’s satisfying knowing I'm helping prevent the spread of it.”
While many of their duties pertain to the welfare of the community, the public health flight also addresses the needs of squadrons around base, sometimes requiring them to adjust their engagement strategy.
“Right now, we are working very hard to do outreach programs with flightline personnel,” said Maj. Scott Robertson, the 35th AMDS public health flight commander. “We know they have a lot of constraints right now, so we’ve been working to meet them in their work place to keep their individual medical readiness current.”
For a wing that provides worldwide deployable forces, public health's role of maintaining medical readiness and ensuring personnel stay fit to fight is essential.
“If there were no public health, there would be no one here to help prevent people from getting sick, assess risks or prevent the spread of diseases,” added Yu. “Without us, Airmen wouldn’t be able to stay mission ready."