The Lutifiyah Medical clinic received two ambulances April 26 through the efforts of coalition forces.

Before this, the clinic had relied on Iraqi Army forces to provide transportation for critically ill or wounded persons.

“We will still provide security for the ambulance movement,” said 1st Lt. Mohammed Mousa, a doctor with 1st Battalion, 25th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. “We know the people need emergency medical care on a regular basis and we are going to make sure the people who can give that care get to the people who need it.”

The nahia council in Lutifiyah, 36 kilometers south of Baghdad, brought the need to the attention of Coalition forces, who facilitated delivery of the ambulances.

“This will increase the capacity and ability of the health clinic to reach a more widespread area and be able to bring care to people in need,” said Capt. Mike Fisher, commander of Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Yaseem Mustafa, chairman of the Lutifiyah Nahia Council, said the delivery would alleviate hardship in the community.

“No longer will people have to travel to the clinic for emergency care, it can now be brought to them,” he said.

DVIDS
By Pvt. Christopher McKenna

Herat Regional Military Hospital, just over a year old, is an ultra-clean, modern, state-of-the-art facility rarely seen in Afghanistan. In fact, there are only four like it in the country.

Assisted by a Navy medical embedded training team, members of the Afghan national army hospital staff aim to provide the best medical care possible.

“When we arrived from the states last year, we relieved a Navy team of two people. We came with a team of 15. Here we advise the 100 medical personnel of the Afghan 207th national army corps,” said Lt. Cmdr. Bruce Deschere, METT mentor.

Deschere said since arriving last August, they have accomplished two visible goals.

“Our first goal was to open an emergency room and intensive care unit,” Deschere said. “The second is that we have worked hard to create a culture of education.”

These goals, Deschere believes, will result in the Afghans providing better medical treatment to its Army—and eventually to its civilian population as well.

A fully functional ER and ICU providing emergency care to the ANA became operational after the Navy team converted two storage rooms.

“We just opened our ICU last week,” Deschere said. “Prior to opening the ICU we were just not equipped to handle serious cases.”

The second accomplishment was to create a culture of learning, according to Deschere. The U.S. advisors presented medical training lectures to the Afghan doctors and nurses.

“The staff has been very receptive to these lectures,” Deschere explained.

Initially, one of the challenges facing the team was language. When the American advisors arrived, an interpreter was assigned to each of them.

Deschere said what surprised the METT team most was seeing the Afghan hospital staff, on their own initiative, sitting around with chalkboards learning the Dari alphabet—learning to read.

“We’ve since learned that many of the Afghan doctors want to learn to speak English,” Deschere said.

The Afghan staff, according to Dr. Muhammad Hussain Alkozay, hospital commander and surgeon, appreciates the close relationship that developed during this year’s advisory period.

“The things we are doing are making a difference,” said Alkozay. “The building is unlike anything we had before. In the past we couldn’t help critical patients, and infections are no longer a problem like before. Our hospital will definitely change lives for the better.”

DVIDS
By Petty Officer 1st Class Douglas Mappin
Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan