Multilateral team helps over 1,500 Thai residents

  • Published
  • By Capt. Genieve David
  • 13th Air Force Public Affairs
UDON THANI ROYAL THAI AIR FORCE BASE, Thailand --  Military medical professionals from the United States, Singapore and Thailand assisted more than 1,500 Thai patients during a medical civic assistance project held here as part of Cope Tiger 2010.

Cope Tiger, held this year primarily at Korat and Udon Thani Royal Thai Air Force Bases in Thailand from March 1 to 12, is an annual multilateral exercise aimed at improving interoperability and strengthening relationships with partner nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The medical civic assistance program, which took place at Ban Nong Sroung School and several other locations here, complements the exercise and allows participants to help local residents of Thailand.

Medical military members from all three countries, along with local civilian medical personnel, worked in concert to assist and treat members of the local community with free general medicine, optometry and dental care.

More than 500 patients were seen in the general medicine clinic.  The patients had common health issues that included joint pain, gastrointestinal issues, upper respiratory infections, and skin rashes.

"Our medical civic assistance program was a great success," said Maj. Gregory Richert, the lead medical planner deployed from 13th Air Force at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Hawaii. "We had a lot of interaction with our Thai military counterparts and local community hospitals, and actually saw more dental and optometry patients than last year."

Within the dental clinic more than 170 extractions were performed for 173 patients.  Finally, many patients required eye care, with the optometry team providing nearly 1,000 prescription glasses and more than 1,090 sunglasses for 868 patients during the exercise.

Cope Tiger enhances combined readiness and interoperability between the United States, Thailand and Singapore.  The exercise demonstrates the United States' commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, and demonstrates its capability to project combined and joint forces strategically in a multilateral environment.

"We positively impacted four communities which, was very rewarding for the entire team," Major Richert said.