With record-cold temperatures and potential power outages looming in South Central Texas last week, Brooke Army Medical Center immediately launched into action to ensure continuity of patient care despite the impending storms.
With safety at the forefront and to conserve resources, BAMC first delayed all non-urgent medical appointments and procedures to ensure emergency services and trauma support to the city remained unaffected. This measure enabled patients and non-emergency-essential staff to stay off icy roads and safely at home.
“As a Level I Trauma Center, it is vital that we maintain our critical care mission and support to our community partners, while ensuring the safety and well-being of our service members, patients and staff,” said BAMC Commanding Army General Brig. Gen. Shan K. Bagby.
In a critical move for readiness, resiliency and safety, ships of Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 11 received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine last weekend in Okinawa, Japan.
The amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans, along with the amphibious dock landing ships USS Germantown and USS Ashland, in cooperation with U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa and the embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, rolled up their sleeves for their first dose of the vaccine.
“As the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific, we have to be ready to respond to the region’s needs at a moment’s notice,” said Navy Capt. Richard LeBron, PHIBRON 11 commodore. “The better protected we are against the coronavirus, the greater assurance I can give our fleet commanders that our ships, Sailors and Marines are without a doubt always here and always ready to fight and deliver when called upon.
The COVID-19 vaccination program in the U.S. Army Central’s area of operations is underway.
“The COVID-19 vaccine has begun coming into theater,” said Army Brig. Gen. Justin Swanson, commanding general of the Army Reserve 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.
Swanson is also the deputy commanding general of 1st Theater Sustainment Command, which is based at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and also has a forward deployed headquarters established at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The forward deployed headquarters, which operates as an operational command post, or 1st TSC-OCP, is staffed with rotations from subordinate echelons of mobilized active-duty and reserve component units, providing sustainment and logistics support to U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, as well as to units throughout the Middle East.