U.S., Vietnam continue humanitarian efforts during Pacific Angel 2010

  • Published
  • By Capt. Timothy Lundberg
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
TRUONG THANH, Vietnam --  After a week of working in 100 degree heat and 100 percent humidity, Vietnamese and U.S. personnel continue their humanitarian efforts in villages surrounding Can Tho as part of Pacific Angel 2010 scheduled here through May 15.

Operation Pacific Angel is a joint and combined humanitarian assistance operation conducted in the Pacific area in support of U.S. Pacific Command's capacity-building efforts. It also provides an opportunity for civil and military operators to train to together with a focus on civic assistance.

The U.S. and Vietnamese civil engineering teams supporting Pacific Angel 2010 have increased the maximum capacity of two local village clinics here and in Tan Thoi. The CE teams installed lights, repainted walls, installed new ceiling fans, windows, doors and signage at the clinics. Rooms at both clinics received final touch-ups and site clean-up continue at both sites. Additional, masonry and signage was also completed at both sites.

With only a day of engineering work and medical treatment left before the week-long mission concludes, civil engineers continue infrastructure improvements at the village medical clinic.

In addition to work being provided by civil engineers here, the U.S. and Vietnamese medical teams have provided care for 1,028 Truong Thanh Village patients, with 1,605 patient visits made to the pediatrics, family practice, optometry, dental or women's health clinic respectively. Of the 1,605 patient visits, 474 were at pediatrics, 582 at family practice, 328 at optometry, 126 at dental, 95 to the women's health clinic and 3,500 prescriptions were provided to those patients seen.

Despite the language barriers between U.S. and Vietnamese personnel, hard work and some well placed translators are helping to make the mission a success. The translators are helping to ensure two-way communication between doctor and patient is effectively communicated and patients receive proper care and treatment during their visit.

Airman 1st Class Hai Nguyen, from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, commented on how important it was to overcome the language gap as prescriptions were given to patients, saying, "We grab meds and we give them to the Vietnamese pharmacists and if they have any questions about any of the [prescriptions] that our doctors write in English I'll go ahead and translate it for them."

Operation Pacific Angel is a Pacific Air Forces program led by 13th Air Force at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Hawaii.