PMed techs at KAF safeguard public health in Canada

By Captain Susan Magill

The preventive medicine (PMed) technicians of the Mission Transition Task Force (MTTF) at Kandahar Airfield are deep into the critical task of banishing insects and pathogens from the loads of military equipment and materiel being shipped back to Canada as part of the closure of Operation ATHENA.

MTTF personnel are responsible for consolidating, inventorying, cleaning, repairing, packing and shipping thousands of items — vehicles of all kinds, even main battle tanks, and sea containers full of materiel — all in an environmentally responsible manner. By 31 December 2011, twelve helicopters, about 1,000 military vehicles, and the equivalent of 1,800 sea containers packed full of materiel and equipment will have departed Kandahar Airfield.

Led by Warrant Officer Cheryl Jardine, the PMed team includes Master Corporal Jacinthe Bisson, MCpl Sue Layton, MCpl Caroline O'Neill, and Master Seaman Abel Ayuste.

By 5 November 2011, the PMed techs of the MTTF had sprayed the inside of 1,447 sea containers with disinfectant, the treated surface area amounting to a bit more than 22 Canadian Football League playing fields. All sea containers bound for Canada — even empty ones — also get the full treatment of a full litre of residual insecticide solution. Swabbing by hand and using pump sprayers, the PMed techs have already gone through 2,059 litres of that.

"The number of treatments remaining has varied as the exact number of sea cans returning to Canada fluctuates," said WO Jardine.

Between them, the disinfectant and the insecticide ensure that micro-organisms that could cause disease do not come from Afghanistan to Canada along with soil and insects that find their way into Canadian Forces shipping containers.

The PMed techs’ first big challenge was finding efficient pump sprayers to apply the insecticide solution. Even when done by an expert, treating a single sea container takes about 15 minutes. When thousands of sea containers have to be sprayed down with both insecticide and disinfectant, that adds up to a monumental task.

"We were eventually able to acquire a gasoline-powered sprayer, which reduced the treatment time to five minutes each," said WO Jardine. "You can appreciate how significant this time-saving change is when conducting 15 to 20 sea-can treatments at once."

To ensure their own safety on the job, PMed technicians wear protective equipment and follow correct techniques and procedures meticulously.

The PMed technicians belong to the MTTF Health Services Unit (HSU), a diverse team of almost 80 practitioners from a wide variety of occupations related to health care: medical technicians, physicians of various specialties, dentists, nurses, health care administrators, a pharmacist and supply technicians, as well as the PMed crew. The HSU operates a Role 1 clinic for Canadians at KAF and contributes both medical and dental personnel to the KAF Role 3 hospital, while also handling the closure of the Operation ATHENA health services elements — a task that includes disinfection of equipment heading back to Canada as well as treating the sea containers.

The closure of Operation ATHENA, the biggest military close-out mission since the end of the Second World War, is facilitating the transition of the Canadian Forces to other operations directed by the Government of Canada.