mr vaughn cavender 22 years as air force medic -...
TRANSCRIPT
Before September 18 1947 there was the Army Air Corp.
The Army Air Corp provided both ground and air capabilities.
On September 18 1947 The Air Force Became it’s own branch
of armed service. Only a few enlisted Airman were allowed
to transfer from the Army Medical Service to the newly
formed Air Force.
With the inception of the newly formed Air Force the need
to build a new medical force was established. Most of the
enlisted medical training was conducted at Sheppard
Air Force Base in Wichita Falls Texas which has since been
moved to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Texas.
The Air Force was responsible for most of the Air Power,
radar stations, and nuclear assets. In the mid 1950’s
training programs were established to meet the requirements
for more skilled medical personnel at radar sites,
and in the missile fields to take care of the 100 or less
personnel assigned .
Since there were less than 100 personnel assigned at these
sites it was neither cost-effective nor practical to send
a physician or dentist or other health care professional to
every site. But since it was essential to have medical care
available, The IDMT’s were assigned to fill this need.
After the end of the Cold War in the late 1980’s, the
number of sites requiring Independent Medical support
Drastically decreased. However, the 1990’s introduced
new operational doctrine including military operations
other than war. When operations Enduring Freedom,
and Iraqi Freedom began, the Need For IDMT’s at bare base
locations increased.
Today four out of the five branches of service have their
own medical services. The Marines are the only branch
of military that does not have it’s own medical service.
The Marines belong to the Department of the Navy and
utilize the Navy’s medical assets.
Military Medical personnel have special protections
afforded to them from the Geneva Convention.
Medical personnel will carry a special ID card that
identifies them as medical personnel. Medical personnel
are classified as non-combatants and by international
law cannot be targeted by hostile forces. Medical
personnel are allowed to carry a weapon but can only
utilize it in a defensive posture. They can use the
weapon in defense of themselves, their patient or defense
of their medical supplies. If medical personnel are embedded
with a combat unit and are doing offensive operations they lose
the protection afforded to them. If medical personnel are
captured by law they can not be held in a prisoner of war status.
Medical personnel must be returned as soon as possible and
allowed to treat their own troops for any medical care.
They can also be utilized to provide medical care of the enemy.
Medical personnel also have to wear a white armband with
a red cross on it identifying them as medical personnel.
In the early 1970’s returning Vietnam medics that were
highly trained had no where to put their skills to use.
Because of this the Physician’s Assistant program was
created. The PA program put these skills to use and allowed
a new medical profession to treat patients. In front of the
PA school at the University of Utah there is a statue
dedicated to the military medic for without them there would
never have been a PA.
The Air Force has just about every medical profession
to provide medical for all Active Duty, their dependents,
and retired personnel and their dependents. There are
two other entities that the uniformed services provide
care for. The United States Public Health Service, and
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
The only medical service that the Air Force does not provide
Is Veterinarian services the Army provides this service.
The Air Force Medical Service has two different career
paths to follow Enlisted and Officer.
The Enlisted provide the bulk of the non-professional
Medical Service. The jobs that the Air Force offers are
varied and they can be anywhere from direct patient care
to administrative jobs. The Air Force provides it’s own
training program for these enlisted jobs. Some medical
jobs like Radiology Technician and Pharmacy Technician
offers licensure in the respected fields which transfer
to the civilian career market.
The Officer career path are for the professionals such as
Physician, Nurse, Dentist, Radiologist to name a few.
The Air Force has a program to where they will pay for
a students medical school for a commitment of service.
The path I chose was the Enlisted route, when I went into
the Air Force I was a 902x0 Medical Services Specialist.
This job I was a nursing assistant and preformed a wide
variety of tasks and skills. I worked in the in patient units,
Critical care, Emergency room. The career field has been
redesiginated to 4N0x1 Aerospace Medical Technician.
I did this job for about 10 years and decided I needed more
of a challenge so I became an IDMT (Independent Duty
Medical Technician).
To get into IDMT school one had to be recommended by their
supervisor, chief nurse, senior medical technician and then
by the SGH which is the chief doctor. One must also have had
a wealth of experience in the inpatient units, critical care
and emergency rooms and also have at least the rank of E-5.
After having interviews with all of the above people your
paperwork is then submitted for approval at the Air Force
level to attend IDMT school.
What is an IDMT exactly? Well the IDMT is an enlisted
Medical Provider or Physician Extender. The duties of
an IDMT are Provide direct patient care, see patients
diagnose, write prescriptions, perform medical laboratory
testing and interpreting lab tests, dentistry, medical admin,
Veterinarian care to Military Working Dogs, Public Health
duties to include food inspections, shop visits for hearing
conservation programs, disease tracking. Bio which does the
water, soil and air sampling and interpreting results. The
IDMT has a wide variety of tasks and is usually the only
Medical provider at smaller sites. With some IDMT jobs they
Are embedded with a combat unit and provide total care for
their assigned unit.
Air Force IDMT school is 12 weeks but you have at least
Four years of experience before going to school. The Navy
has Independent Duty Corpsmen (IDC) they function the
same way Air Force IDMT’s do except the Navy learns
Shipboard water systems. The Army has the 18 Delta
which is classified as a Special Forces Medic, the Coast
Guard goes through the Air Force IDMT School.
Being in military medicine also offers some additional
training that one would not receive outside the military.
Some of the unique training that one receives is very
extensive training in Chemical, Biological and Nuclear.
You learn about how to wear the chemical protective suit, how
Chemical, Biological and Nuclear weapons affect the body
and how to detect and care for patients that have been exposed
to these agents.
After the events of September 11th
I carried Cipro in case of
an Anthrax attack. I also had to ensure that everyone in my
unit were given the proper anti malaria medications because
our new location was a Malaria zone.
Today’s IDMT deploys all over the world and augments
the medical mission. When the IDMT is not deployed they
are back at their home base training and getting their
unit ready for the next deployment.
I joined the Air Force in 1985 and stayed in for 22 years retiring
in 2006.I have been all over the world and participated
in many operations. Some of the operations I have participated in.
Panama
First Gulf War
Somalia
Bosnia
Global War on Terrorism
I was in Kuwait when September 11th
occurred and went to
forward location to support operations in Afghanistan.
Being a military medic is challenging, rewarding and at times
very hard on you both physically and mentally. Too Many times
have I had to witness horrible things that take place in
combat that I will never forget, and take care of some people
that I have become friends with that were a casualty of
direct combat actions that have died in front of me. The
rewarding parts is working with other branches of service
and other countries militaries and earning the respect of
them and earning the title of Doc. Frequent deployments can
also take a toll on family members that are left back home.