Afghans make strides in disease prevention by recognizing health hazards
Story by Gary Hengstler Kabul Military Training Center Public Affairs
Under the supervision of Canadian Forces Preventative Medicine (PMED) Technicians, Afghan National Army soldiers enrolled in the PMED course conduct inspections and evaluations of kitchens, water, immunization and camp facilities at the Kabul Military Training Center located near Kabul, Afghanistan, May 26 2012.
As the Afghan National Army (ANA) grows and trains to combat the Taliban insurgency, it is also taking aim at another equally insidious enemy confronting the nation—disease. The Armed Forces Academy of Medical Sciences (AFAMS) delivers a Preventative Medicine (PMED) Technician program and is training personnel to check for potential health hazards at military and police facilities throughout the nation.
The PMED course is a one-year program of instruction for select Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) personnel taught by Afghan instructors and now supported by a team of specialists from the Canadian Forces. They are part of the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) AFAMS medical advisory training team and include Warrant Officer Eric Bouchard and Master Cpls. Sonia Lavigne, Ryan MacDonald and Brad Studham.
“When we arrived in February, our objective was to assist them in improving the course,” said Bouchard. “We saw that their classroom course is very strong and provides much needed knowledge. We also concluded that their students would benefit from more hands-on field activity and practical training. We worked with them to develop a 12-day course to provide them with this field hygiene practice. ”
The team chose the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) for the field experience where, at any given time, 8,000 to 10,000 army recruits are undergoing training. The field hygiene training for the PMED students is comprised of a short knowledge review in the classroom, with the remainder of the course being spent on skills acquisition training in the field.
“They will conduct inspections and evaluations of kitchens, water, immunization and camp facilities,” Bouchard said, adding that “we will offer our recommendations as they conduct these inspections, but primarily it will be their efforts, not ours.”
Under the supervision of Warrant Officer Eric Bouchard, a member of the Armed Forces Academy of Medical Sciences, Afghan National Army soldiers enrolled in the Preventative Medicine course check for potential health hazards in a water tank located at the Kabul Military Training Center located near Kabul, Afghanistan, 26 May 2012.
For example, Master Cpl. MacDonald held classes in water inspection, including water quality found in cisterns, wells and potable water trucks. Using equipment and chemicals, the Afghan PMEDs went to various spots at KMTC to run tests on water quality under his guidance.
Master Cpl. Lavigne oversaw kitchen and DFAC training as Afghans conducted inspections of potential health concerns in the preparation and distribution of the meals for the thousands of ANA personnel. The team also reviewed other kitchen health issues such as carbon monoxide concerns from the gas burners used to cook the bulk foods and looked at electrical and refrigeration factors in their field work.
Master Cpl. Studham focused on ensuring the PMEDs had experience in reviewing camp hygiene and controls for vector-borne illness. The KMTC inspections also included the barracks, canteen and barbershop.
At the conclusion of each of their inspections, the Afghan PMEDs shared their observations and recommendations with each other and with the Afghan officer in charge of the facility inspected.
The goal is not solely to create better PMEDS, but also to develop the capability for PMEDS to spread the knowledge to the units to which they are assigned.
“Unfortunately, one of the problems facing Afghanistan is that many here lack the basics of public health awareness.” Bouchard noted. “Essentially, we are trying to kill two birds with one stone by improving our PMEDs and giving them the ability to teach others. We are training them to teach field hygiene to the NCOs and junior officers in the Kandaks wherever they are posted.”
Bouchard stressed that their work was not to impose a Canadian PMED system on the ANSF. “We just hope to help them find an Afghan solution to any problems they find. We recognize that in terms of experience and equipment, Afghanistan’s forces do not have the advantages we have in the West. So, for example, when we work with the PMEDs in the inspections of the dining facilities, we are using a checklist that has been issued by the Afghan Ministry of Public Health in coordination with the Ministry of Defense. We will go with the Afghan standards and if we can suggest improvements within their standards, we will do so.”
With the 12-day field hygiene practicum concluded and the graduates heading to their assignments in the field, the Canadian team looks forward the next course that begins in August. Through this course, step by step, the battle against an enemy challenging all nations is faced in Afghanistan, and championed by PMED Technicians everywhere: “Prevention Needs No Cure”.
NTM-A is a coalition of 38 troop-contributing nations charged with assisting the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in generating a capable and sustainable Afghan National Security Force ready to take lead of their country’s security by 2014. For more information about NTM-A, visit www.ntm-a.com.
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Category: News - Afghan National Army, News - General, News - Medical
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