Power Restored to Iraqi Clinic
The local citizens who use the medical clinic in the Hateen apartments will now have 24-hour power thanks to the assistance of coalition forces.
Soldiers repaired the 30K generator that powers the clinic. It runs approximately 20 hours a day to augment the limited electricity available in the area, said 1st Lt. Jonathan Akers, a medical officer at the aid station for the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment.
The unit, which is attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, did a clinic assessment in February and learned of the inoperable generator. The faulty generator and limited electrical power to the clinic kept the clinic from properly refrigerating vaccines, which affected the staff’s ability to care for patients.
“Since they had no power they were not able to keep the vaccines cold so they were not able to vaccinate the people,†Akers said. “They were losing vaccines, which is a big cost to the medical infrastructure. So it basically shut down their whole vaccination program, which basically paralyzed the clinic.â€
The clinic receives rationed vaccines from the Ministry of Health on a monthly basis; spoiled vaccines could not be replaced. Ice was used as a contingency plan, but freezers were nearly as unusable as the generator.
The battalion enlisted the help of Sgt. Lauro Flores, a ground support equipment noncommissioned officer, and Spc. Daniel Vicena, a generator mechanic, both with Company F, 2-502nd Inf. Regt., to help alleviate this problem.
“When we went out there for our initial assessment, they had a bunch of parts stripped off the generator, the fuel tank was messed up, and the fuel pump wasn’t working right,†said Vicena, a native of Cincinnati.
The clinic has its own generator mechanic who actually lives there, but he was extremely limited in what he could do, said Akers. He didn’t have the resources, money or tools; he basically didn’t have anything to get the job done.
The Soldiers made numerous trips to the clinic in the next six months. In addition to getting parts that were available through military supply channels, the Soldiers also had to fabricate one unavailable part.
“When we went out there the first time they gave us the oil filter, the fuel filter and the fuel-water separator,†said Flores, a native of Milton, Fla. “I got lucky with the oil and fuel filters, but the fuel-water separator was badly damaged, and I couldn’t find a replacement. So I had to figure out the concept of the fuel-water separator, and we had to fabricate one.â€
Now, the clinic is able to serve its population, which includes approximately 25,000 local citizens.
“It feels good knowing that we made a difference for these local citizens,†Flores said. “This is my first time of doing this type of civil affairs/public service type of mission.â€
Prior to this, the clinic had to divert some of its patients because it was unable to keep the vaccines cold.
“These two did a phenomenal job of networking, resourcing, gathering all this stuff, and fabricating the part,†said Akers, a native of Indianapolis.
“The end state is the clinic reinstated their vaccination program so the people in the area no longer have to go way outside their neighborhood to receive normal vaccines,†he said. “So it’s got their vaccination program going, and it saved probably thousands of dollars worth of vaccines that they were losing when their power would go out.â€
The Hateen clinic supports the local population with essential health needs. The Hateen PCH employs three physicians, 17 female and eight male nurses. The clinic also has two dentists and a number of technicians, including a midwife, pharmacy techs and administrative personnel.
The clinic sees approximately 150 patients daily and an average of 10 dental patients a day. The clinic, which is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day but Friday, is a sick-call type clinic that also has a maternity ward.
DVIDS
By Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis
4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division
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