Neonatal care takes center stage in Bangladesh

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Chris Hoyler
  • By Pacific Angel 10-3 Public Affairs
JESSORE, BANGLADESH --  More than 15 health care providers from the Republic of Bangladesh gathered at the Smiling Sun Clinic here June 12 and 13 to attend a subject matter expert exchange on the topic of neonatology as part of Operation Pacific Angel currently underway here through June 16.

The exchange, led by Lt. Col. Lindy Winter, Chief of Neonatology from the U.S. Naval Hospital at Camp Lester in Okinawa, Japan, also included participation from a pediatrician from the Bangladesh Army, Maj. Mofazzol Hossain. "We're here to talk about infant mortality, the ways to reduce it and different strategies the Bangladesh people can use," Colonel Winter said. "Specifically, we're talking about neonatal resuscitation, what to do in the first minutes after birth as a way to reduce infant mortality and maybe have more babies survive."

Operation Pacific Angel is a joint and combined humanitarian assistance operation conducted in the Pacific area of responsibility to support U.S. Pacific Command's capacity-building efforts. This humanitarian and civic assistance program is aimed at improving military civic cooperation between the United States and countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Topics for the exchange included principles of resuscitation, initial steps in resuscitation, resuscitation devices, blood sugar management and temperature regulation. There were also hands-on demonstrations for chest compressions and other scenarios, all of which were conducted using interactive infant models and instruments.

Colonel Winter said she appreciated the opportunity to discuss different techniques and experiences with her counterparts from Bangladesh.

"There are many different topics we can look at for reducing infant mortality and ones we can have good back and forth conversation about," said Colonel Winter. "Babies that are asphyxiated, deprived of oxygen at birth, we can do a lot for them in the first few minutes. Babies that have low blood sugar levels, there's a lot of interventions that we can do for those babies. We have a lot of opportunities to improve and enhance."

Major Hossain said he was excited to put to use the information he gathered and shared during the exchange. "If an infant can survive with good supportive care, it is a benefit for all nations," he said. "The child might be a scientist, or a genius, so a healthy baby is a good asset for the next generation."

Operation Pacific Angel missions were previously conducted in the Philippines in February and Vietnam in May. The final iteration will take place in Sri Lanka in August.

The U.S. and Bangladesh militaries have a long history of working in partnership for humanitarian assistance and medical training, and have also conducted air, land and sea exercises.

Operation Pacific Angel is a Pacific Air Forces operation led by 13th Air Force officials.