CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq - When looking inside Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division Medical Aid Station, one might think the physician assistant and medics working there are just like all the others in Iraq. There are cabinets with various medicines and medical supplies, desks and filing cabinets stocked full of paperwork and a neat and tidy treatment area. But appearances can be deceiving.
The medics who work in this aid station do far more than one would expect. The medical staff has more than 50 years of combined medical experience and uses it to assist Contingency Operating Base Adder and the STB daily.
Capt. Isaritza Rosello, of San Antonio, officer-in-charge, also works at the 10th Combat Support Hospital Outpatient Clinic and the emergency room. Such demands on Rosello and her staff aren't enough to bring them down, it's all a part of the job description.
"We have an office full of eager beavers," said Rosello.
"Everyone wants to help stick a vein." Sgt. 1st Class Michael Dees, of Yuma, Ariz., helps round out the leadership of the medical staff with 19 years of active-duty service as a medic. In his years, he has developed some unique ways of motivating Soldiers to complete necessary procedures like immunizations. "Some people have to be coerced into getting shots, so we just tell them 'Hey, I got something for you at the aid station!' and when they come in ... well you know," said Dees.
The medics treat more than 50 Soldiers a week in addition to their normal duties at the 10th CSH as well as provide medical support for the 4th STB Combat Patrols. "We have supported the (military police) and (personal security detachments) on top of our daily responsibilities," said Dees.
In addition, the medics have conducted combat life-saver classes for Soldiers and have also begun training with the 10th Iraqi Army Division medics at the Camp Dhi Qar aid station.
"The medics are very valuable to us. The Battalion could not accomplish its mission without them," said Resello.
