Blogtalkradio @ MindSay 
By Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg
Special to American Forces Press Service
July 21, 2008 - Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy is preparing to leave the third country it has visited in the South Pacific during a four-month humanitarian deployment supporting Pacific Partnership 2008. Mercy arrived in Timor-Leste on July 12 for a two-week humanitarian visit, but this isn't the first time the crew has visited the country.
"This is the third time we have been here. ... The first time was in 2005 following a tsunami, and the USNS Mercy was back in 2006, and now this time," Navy Capt. James Rice, commander of the Military treatment facility aboard Mercy, said July 17 on the "Dot Mil Docs" program on BlogTalkRadio.com.
"We look forward to coming back in the years to come on a regular basis. One of the most important aspects of the Pacific Partnership is the long-term commitment to work with each of the nations and to make sure that the friendships and the relationships we build are long-lasting ones,." Rice said.
In 2006, Mercy participated in a four-month humanitarian and civil assistance deployment that brought medical treatment to the people in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia and East Timor. Prior to that, in 2005, Mercy deployed in response to the December 2004 tsunami that struck Southeast Asia.
"Pacific Partnership is really why doctors and nurses went into medicine in the first place," Rice said. "In particular, all of us enjoy taking care of patients and working with each other on a very human level. It is just something that gets to the core of why we went in our professions in the first place."
Since the beginning of Pacific Partnership, the Mercy medical staff has seen more than 41,000 patients and provided dental services to nearly 9,000 patients. They have performed more than 600 surgeries and provided veterinarian medicine care to more than 4,000 animals. In addition to the medical care provided, Mercy's biomedical repair technicians have fixed medical equipment in the hospitals they've visited.
"We have repaired many of their equipment items in their hospitals that will allow them to continue to provide health care services long after we're gone," Rice said.
Though they sometimes have to work at a technological disadvantage, Rice said, the host nations' medical knowledge often is very sophisticated.
"Sometimes they don't have the technology that we have, but most often they know what they want us to do for them, and they ask for very specific training or very specific diagnostic treatment and modalities," he said.
Various nongovernment organizations from the United States and from the host nations also are participating in Pacific Partnership 2008.
"We have NGOs from the United States -- in particular, Operation Smile, Project Hope, and [the University of California at San Diego] pre-dental society -- and we are working with host-nation NGOs -- in particular, Timor Red Cross, Australian Aid International ... and many others," Rice said.
"The idea is that the host nation NGOs are on the ground all the time, and we would like to interact with them so that they will be able to continue various projects for patient care that we happen to take care of while we are here for two weeks,." Rice said.
Prior to arriving in Timor-Leste, Mercy visited the Philippines and Vietnam. The ship is about halfway through a four-month humanitarian mission that soon will take the crew to Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Partner nations participating in Pacific Partnership 2008 include Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Portugal.
"Medicine is really a universal common denominator," Rice said. "It is an incredible experience to have in the operating room an American or Australian as the surgeon, perhaps an anesthesiologist from India."
He added that while the medical professionals initially have to figure out how to best communicate, they do use translators.
"In the operating room a lot of times, it's visual anyway, the language barrier has not been a big problem," Rice said. "But it really has been a tremendous experience for all of us, and it has helped us to bond very closely together and make long lasting friendships that all of us are cherishing."
(Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg works in the New Media Directorate of the Defense Media Activity.)
By Jamie Findlater
Special to American Forces Press Service
June 17, 2008 - Mental Health practitioners nationwide are donating their time and services to provide free, confidential counseling to military people and their families. "Combat affects everyone in one way or another," explained Dr. Barbara Romberg in an "ASY Live" interview on BlogTalkRadio. "Most people react when exposed to a situation where there are extreme or horrific events; it is a human reaction to abnormal situations."
ASY Live is part of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which connects citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.
Romberg, founder and president of "Give an Hour," said she started her nonprofit organization to educate servicemembers and their families about the seriousness of post-traumatic stress disorder and the importance of taking steps to combat it.
"When we set up the organization a few years ago, the concept was very simple, she said. "We asked mental health professionals across the country to give an hour of their time."
When one of the program's providers was asked why she joined, Romberg said, her answer was equally simple. "How could I not? It's so little that they are asking of me to give," the practitioner said.
Romberg said a broad spectrum of mental health practitioners participated in Give an Hour. "We have mental health professionals of all kinds -- psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, licensed marriage and family counselors, substance abuse counselors and pastors," she explained. "One size doesn't fit all; people need different things."
Raising awareness about PTSD is as important to the group as providing help to people who need it, she said.
"We are really launching a public education campaign to make sure our entire country understands post-traumatic stress -- what it is and why it's so important to address," she said. "Post-traumatic stress is a condition that will affect most people."
Romberg said there are important signs that a family member can identify that may be an indication that professional help may be a necessary part of the recovery process.
"Anyone might be withdrawn or irritable for awhile, but if those symptoms persist past six or eight weeks, then you need to take action," she said. "If the family member seems to be uninterested in activities that they used to be interested in before, uninterested in relationships with spouses or children, or engaging in persistent drinking or substance abuse as a way of escaping, that's a warning sign," she explained.
Nightmares, anxiety attacks and rage can lead to very serious symptoms if left untreated, she added, "but it doesn't have to become a chronic mental illness at all."
For that reason, Romberg explained, it is important that family members work to recognize symptoms and seek counseling as quickly as possible. Most people want to feel as if they can handle these issues, she said. And in fact, they can, but sometimes they need assistance, she added. That's where Give an Hour comes in.
Give an Hour provides counseling not only for servicemembers, but also for affected family members, whom Romberg defines as "anyone who loves someone who is serving."
"When someone we love is deeply affected, the consequences are usually fairly far-reaching," she explained. "Spouses and children are, of course, an immediate concern, ... but grandparents, aunts and uncles are just as affected by this situation.
"If you, as a family member, feel like you have resources," she continued, "you can put together a plan and you have ... someone else to help you think through it, and eventually encourage [your] loved one to come with [you]."
It is also important, she noted, to keep a close eye on children.
"Spouses that are focused on their husband or wife, it might be really difficult to also be concerned with their children," she said. "We see things such as regression -- a young child that's maybe 3 was potty-trained and all of a sudden starts wetting the bed or isn't eating or sleeping well."
The services offered by Give an Hour are free and ongoing, and providers stay in the network a minimum of a year, Romberg said.
"If their provider has to leave, we provide a replacement," she noted. "They are never told, 'You've used up your services here.' By building such a hard network, it's not a hardship to give an hour. And [the practitioners] are happy and eager to give."
To receive support or to register to become part of this support network, people can visit the organization's Web site, www.giveanhour.org. People seeking help can search for the nearest participating provider by entering their ZIP code.
"It can be an educational conversation or it can be setting up an appointment to meet face to face," Romberg said. "If they don't know what type of assistance they need, they can also click on the 'Contact Us' button, ... and we will help locate a provider.
"It's all about partnering, networking, reaching out, connecting -- helping them to get what they need," she said.
(Jamie Findlater, host of "ASY Live" on BlogTalkRadio, works in the New Media directorate of the Defense Media Activity.)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/shiny
Shiny Snogs Too Much -- The All - British Show!
9:00pm EDT / 6:00pm PDT
Join co-presenter cas and me as we discuss all things British in our outrageously absurd fake British accents! You can participate as well in the on-line chat (easy registration required) or by calling in LIVE to the show!
Hope to see you there!
This week -- the theme is "Shiny Snogs Too Much." What is snogging? It's the British term for... well, something or other. Not entirely sure, actually. All I know is that it's one of those things they say in the U.K. And this show will be an All British Show! That's right -- we'll be celebrating all things from across the pond with our outrageous fake British accents and our fish and chips in hand.
As always - you can call in to the show live -- if you do, however, you need to pretend to be British as well -- whether it's your own fake British accent or some other content that is related to the U.K. Whether it's Benny Hill, or Cricket, or
My special guest for the evening will be cas -- a true native of England! (Or at least one of the colonies once held by the British Monarchy several years back.) Whether you call in or just participate in the on-line chat, it should be a wonderful time -- shagtastic and crumpet-alicious!
Oh -- and if you want to listen to our last show -- it's here:
First and foremost: thanks to all of you who made this past week's "Shiny Talks Too Much" internet radio show a huge success. You can listen to it at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/shiny . A special thanks to Adam who was a great guest. Thanks -- I hope we can do this again sometime!
And speaking of doing it again sometime: I'd like to do another show during the upcoming week. And I'd love to have a special guest alongside whom I can interview. Is that someone special someone from Mindsay? If so -- what would that person like to talk about? If it's you, please respond at let me know and we can work something out.
Hope everyone had as good a time as I did!
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]