HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Two anesthesia providers from Regional Health Command-Pacific (RHC-P) recently supported a U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) global health engagement through their participation at the 18th annual conference of military anesthesiology and resuscitation, Wuhan, China. The anesthesiologists, Lt. Col. Joseph Karhan, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Department of Operative and Anesthesia Services, Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC) and Maj. Michael Patzkowski, Staff Anesthesiologist, Department of Surgery, Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) presented topics relating to forward surgical team care delivery to an audience of over 500 national and international guests.
RHC-P is well poised to provide the medical subject matter expert exchanges which help create relationships across the PACOM area of responsibility. These types of medical exchanges open up communication with the host country, in this case the Chinese medical services, further warming relationships in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
"The involvement of Karhan and Patzkowski in this important conference further enabled our relationship with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and reinforced U.S. Army Medicine's support to U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Army Pacific strategic objectives," stated Lt. Col. Derek Licina, Chief, Global Health Engagements, RHC-P. "Through their direct participation in, and shaping dialogue on, military healthcare delivery they effectively implemented RHC-P's global health engagement efforts to enhance diplomacy and facilitate interoperability between nations," added Licina.
Both RHC-P physicians have a depth of experience and training in forward deployment support which showcases the capabilities of Army Medicine. Karhan has worked in a deployed setting as part of a small trauma team in a combat environment. He also has training in operational control for validating exercises for forward surgical teams. Patzkowski recently completed a deployment to Afghanistan as part of a damage control resuscitation team.
As Karhan notes, "I think the PLA is eager to learn from other countries on how to participate in expeditionary medicine. The Chinese were eager to hear "how" we do austere anesthesia and there were many questions on how we handled situations with patients."
Patzkowski observed that the Chinese are not currently well suited to provide support typically found in a combat support hospital or forward surgical team in the field.
"It was an eye-opener to understand that despite the tremendous capacity and manpower of the PLA medical service, they are not postured for forward deployment," remarked Patzkowski. "China has several brick-and-mortar hospitals around the country, with bed capacities in the thousands, but very limited experience bringing robust medical care to the field environment," added Patzkowski.
Both Karhan and Patzkowski were honored to be invited to the conference and to represent Army Medicine. These global health engagements illustrate that military medicine is about taking care of the patient and that all providers are likeminded in this ambition. It also creates a common bond between providers.
"One of the more memorable moments was when a retired PLA anesthesiologist approached us with a huge smile and said never in his life did he think he would see the American military interacting with the PLA," remarked Karhan. "He shook our hands and was visibly emotional. I think one of the biggest impacts of this exchange was the opening of relationships and the opportunity to provide medical subject matter expertise with the PLA medical services," added Karhan.
Patzkowski also added that "Anytime we can engage with fellow medical providers, it is an opportunity to exchange information and experiences that will help save lives."
RHC-P provided solid role models of Army professionalism who were able to showcase how military medicine works. The exchange offered a better understanding and appreciation of the importance of global health exchanges.
"Global health engagements are a necessity, a means to demonstrate the importance of military medical topics such as forward deployment support," said Patzkowski. "The PLA officers and civilians appreciated the opportunity to exchange not only medical information, but were very excited to meet us and eager to speak with us. It seemed that the Chinese were honored to host us and gained a great deal of knowledge from this subject matter exchange," added Patzkowski.