We were able to talk with Colonel John A. Powell, Multi- National Security Transition Command Iraq (MNSTC-I) Assistant Chief of Staff, Health Affairs at a recent Bloggers’ Roundtable.

Col. Powell is working with Iraqi counterparts on improving medical capacity and building capabilities of the Iraqi security forces. He is also a native of America’s North Shore, as a native of Ogdensburg.

One of the issues involved with modernizing and restoring the Iraqi armed forces is their access to basic and advanced medical care. The Ministry of Defense has, on paper, a medical organization for that purpose.

In reality, Col. Powell stated, personnel shortages hamper the ability to provide care. Of the 800 slots for medical doctors, only about 130 are filled. Many Iraqi doctors have fled the country, and others are not enticed to join the military due to pay or security issues.

MoD has concentrated on regional hospitals and then on clinics in large military bases. Services are only provided to military personnel.

Serious cases, such as wounded from the recent move into Basra by Iraqi security forces, are dispatched to civilian hospital where the level of care is higher. Medical evacuations from Basra to Baghdad were conducted by the Iraqi Air Force with their own C-130’s.

Col Powell’s unit is running a number of training programs, “advanced cardiac life support, advanced
trauma life support, pediatric advanced life support, advanced burn life support”. These are course taken as part of normal training in the United States and Europe but are new to Iraq.

There are two very basic areas of medical practice in the military that Powell’s people are also addressing. The ability to maintain and repair medical instrument and devices is vital, and training has begun in an effort to allow the Iraqis to grow their own repair techs.

Another area of concern to the military, since the first army marched thousands of years ago, is basic sanitation. Clean water for drinking and cooking, proper waste disposal and immunizations are something taken for granted in Western nations. In Iraq it is an issue, not just for civilians but for the military as well. Tetanus, typhoid and cholera are all threats to the Iraqi military and Powell’s folks are engaged in training to eliminate those preventable illnesses.

Clean water and power. Col. Powell stressed that these were the issues affecting clinic construction and medical care in general. He praised Iraqi doctors as excellent diagnosticians. Unable to run the many tests that Western doctors are accustomed to, the Iraqis have become expert in using their intellect and skills to determine what is wrong with their patients.

Col. Powell’s closing statement:

They’ve come a long way in five years. I don’t think there’s any question in my mind, I think, folks who have been here in the past. It ain’t perfect. They’ve got a long ways to go but they have some direction.

And the biggest piece right now is manning, is personnel, people who have medical — from my standpoint anyway — who have medical capabilities, who can do what’s necessary, to diagnose people and take care of them and also to do the preventive stuff ahead of time, to help make sure that the water is clear, to help make sure that we have — that they have manned staff facilities that can do simple, straightforward medicine, which is really what they need here.

And that’s, I think, probably the thing that I’ll get the most from my time here over the course of the last few months and a few more. They know. They have a direction. They know what needs to be done. They’re working hard to get the people to come back, who are trained and outside. And mostly those are senior folks that can come in and teach and help get things back on what we would call a direct road to taking care of folks.

So there’s no question in my mind, they know what needs to be done. They’ve got some direction with it and they’re headed that way. And I would love for it, to see it all happen tomorrow. And I think most of them would too. But it’s going to take some time to build it.

Transcript [PDF]