An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Airmen perform Malian MEDCAP

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Lauren Johnson
  • 1st SOW Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  The average citizen in Mali, Africa gets Malaria twice a year.

When Tech. Sgt. William Ward visited one such citizen, a young boy, in a Bamako infirmary, it sparked an idea.

Sergeant Ward, a 352nd Special Operations Group medic, was in Bamako recently as part of the Joint Special Operations Air Detachment supporting FLINTLOCK-09, a training exercise designed to build capacity and interoperability among African nations in the Trans-Saharan region.

After arriving in country, Sergeant Ward and fellow 352nd SOG medics Dr. (Maj.) Sanjay Gogate, and MSgt John Parrish, visited the infirmary to meet with the local doctor.

Sergeant Ward said the visit was intended for relationship-building and as a professional courtesy.

"We were just hoping to get a little face time with him," he said. But a sick seven-year-old changed the medics' plans.

"The boy was dying from dehydration due to lack of medical equipment," Sergeant Ward said. "I thought, I wonder if we could do something to help?"

And two weeks later, the three medics, plus two Army medics and 26 JSOAD Airmen volunteers evaluated and treated 400 local citizens in a Medical Civic Action Program. In coordination with the American embassy and the Army Humanitarian Assistance Office, $275,000 worth of medical supplies was also donated to the infirmary.

The MEDCAP was an eight-hour event, and by 9 a.m., a long line of locals fed a constant stream into the infirmary.

Ramata Cama-ra waited to have her three children examined for a cough. She nibbled a banana, bounced her toddler on her knee and exclaimed that she was "very, very happy to see an American doctor!"

At the door, Ramata's family and the other patients were greeted by volunteers who weighed them and recorded a description of their ailments. Translators passed the information from English to French, and often from French to the local dialect, Bambara. 

Then, patients were escorted to one of three primitive evaluation rooms, where they were evaluated by a medic, and a make-shift pharmacy, where they received their medication. 

All children were also given a dose of a de-worming liquid, which Sergeant Ward said was one of the most powerful tools at their disposal. 

"De-worming children in this part of the world, just by giving them good nutrition, significantly decreases overall mortality rate," he said. 

Sergeant Ward said other common ailments treated were skin rashes, ear infections and pneumonia, and that they saw a staggering 105 cases of malaria. 

Maj. John Richter, 1st Special Operations Wing, said he was shocked at the number and variety of diagnoses. 

"I don't think there was any child there who didn't need something," said Major Richter, who spent the morning distributing prescriptions in the pharmacy. "It certainly makes you realize how their standard of living is so drastically different from ours." 

"It was very fulfilling," said Tech. Sgt. Demika Hunter, 8th Special Operations Squadron. 

"But it was a little overwhelming at first that the country is so poor that people aren't able to afford things like Tylenol or treatment for ear aches for their kids." 

Sergeant Ward said the Malians weren't the only ones who benefited from the experience. 

"I learned a ton," he said, referencing his experience with third world diseases to which American medics aren't typically exposed.

"Reading in a book is one thing. But when you're working side by side with a local doctor he can tell you exactly what to look for, and it's not always like the book."