NAVY MEDICINE May-June 2001 Surgeon General of the ~Ny ~BUMED NAVY MEDICINE VADM Richard A
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NAVY MEDICINE May-June 2001 Surgeon General of the ~ny ~BUMED NAVY MEDICINE VADM Richard A. Nelson, MC, USN Vol. 92, No. 3 May-June 2001 Deputy Surgeon General Deputy Chief, BUMED RDML Donald C. Arthur, ~C. US~ Department Rounds Editor 1 New Laser Vision Center Opens at NNMC Jan Kenneth Herman LCDR Ed Austin, USN Assistant Editor Features Janice Marie Hores 3 New Medical Department Flag Selections Book Re\iew Editor 6 NAMRU-3 and the 1967 Egyptian-Israeli Conflict LTY.H.Aboul-Enein, MSC, USN CAPT Donald C. Kent, MC, USN (Ret.) 10 "Navy Medicine at Normandy" Release JK.Herman 12 Patient and Rescuer .\:~IT MEDICI.\£. Vol. 92. ;>;o. 3 (ISS~ OS95-8~11 USPS 316-070) is pubhshed bimonthly b) the John F Fenwick, Jr. Department ofthe :"a')· Bureau of~tedicine and SurgCI) (<,tEI).{)')HI. \\a..hmgton. DC ~03n-5JOO . Periodzc-al postage pa1d at \\ashington. DC. 21 Disaster Relief and the Navy Entomologist POSP.\IASTER: Send address changes to ;>;a,y LCDR David M Claborn, MSC, USN Medzcme. Bureau of ~tedicine and Surgery. AlTS; MED-0911. 2300 E Street :'•iW, Washington. DC 20372- 5300. 24 Birth of the Helo Deck POLICY: Sa')' .\fedzcme is the official publication VADMJoelT Boone, MC, USN of the :"a\> !\.tedical Deparunent. It is intended for ~tedzcal Department personnel and contains professtonal mformation relati'e to medzctne, denlistf>. Book Review and the alhed health sciences. Opmions expressed are 28 The President's Doctor: An Insider's View of those of the author.. and do not necessanly represent the official position ofthe Department of the :"a'), the Three First Families Bureau of Medzcine and Surgery. or any other Janice Marie Hares go' ernmental deparunent or agency. Trade names are used for identzfication only and do not represent an endorsement b) the Department of the :-;a, y or the A Look Back Bureau of ~tedictne and Surgery. Although \'ary· .\fedirine may cne or extract from directi\es, authoril) 29 Navy Medicine 1953 for acuon should be obtained from the cited reference. DISTRIBUTJO~ : \my .\fetlicmc ts dzstributed to acti\ e duty ~ted zeal Depanment personnel 'ia the Standard ~a\) Distribution List. The follo\\lng distribution" authorized: one copy for each ~ted~e-al, Dental, Medical Semce, and :-.;urse Corps officer; one copy for each I 0 enlisted ~ledical Deparunent members. Requests to mcrease or decrease the number ofalloned copies should be fornarded to Xm)' ,\fedzcme \ ia the local command. ,\ :~IT MEDICI.\'£ IS published from appropriated funds b> 3Uiboril) ofthe Bureau o~lediClnc and SurgCI) m accordance "ith :\a\') Pubhcauoos and Pnnting Regulations P-35. The Secretary of the :-;a\) has determmed that this publicauon is neces5ar) in the transaction of business required b) Ia" of the Department of the !\a,y. Funds for prinllng thzs publication haH been appro\Cd by the !\a') Publications and Pnnting Policy Commmce. Anicles, leners. and address changes may be fornarded to the Editor, Sa•y Medicint!. Bureau of ~1edictne and Surgery, ATT:-.;, <,tED-09H. ~300 E Street !\W. COVER: "I came ashore right here." 6th Naval Beach Battalion veteran \\aslungton, DC ~oJn-5300. Telephone (Area Code 20~ I 762-324S 46: DS:-.; 76~- 3~48 46. Conlllbutions Dr. Lee Parker describes the landing on Omaha Beach to Navy Medical from the field arc "dcome and will be published a. space Department Historian Jan K. Herman. The Bureau ofMedicine and Sur perm1ts, subject to edmng and posszble abndgment. For sale by the Superintendent ofDo<:uments. U-'i. gery will soon release the second video in the series on Navy medicine GO\ernmcnt Pnnung Office. Washington DC ~040~ . in World War II. Story on page 10. Photo by John Lewin. !liAHtED P-5088 Department Rounds New Laser Vision Center Opens at NNMC LCDR Ed Austin, USN he National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) opened a laser refractive surgery center under the TNavy's Corneal Refractive Surgery Program, which makes the surgical procedure available to active duty Sailors and Marines. The new facility, located in the Ophthalmology Clinic at NNMC, started screening can didates for the surgical program in October and conducted its first laser surgeries in mid-November. The program is intended to serve those active duty members whose mission effectiveness and personal safety would be most enhanced by eliminating the need for wear ing eyeglasses or contact lenses while performing their military duties. Although active duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel may request evaluation to determine suit ability for surgery regardless of job specialty or warfare community, priority will be placed on Sailors and Ma rines whose military duties require them to work in ex treme physical environments that preclude the safe use of glasses or contact lenses. Among the first to have the procedure done at NNMC's new Laser Vision Center was a group of Sailors assigned to the Experimental Diving Unit in Panama City, FL. Ac cording to BMl Troy Larck, who wears contacts when he dives, this will eliminate the need for wearing lenses. "I have had a contact lens slip out of place during a dive, and there is not much you can do about it while you have your helmet on." QM2 Randall Chase, who has never been The center's director, CDR Joe Pasternak, MC, performs one of able to wear contact lenses comfortably due to his astig- the first PRK surgeries in the new NNMC Laser Vision Center. May-June 2001 The most time-consuming aspects of the process are pre-surgical evaluations and post-surgical followup care. NNMC's new center has four specially equipped exami nation rooms to perform the pre- and post-operative vis its. The center has three refractive-surgery trained tech nicians and one optometrist to perform initial screening exams and counseling. There are currently nine doctors on staff at the center who will perform the laser proce dure. According to CDR Joe Pasternak, MC, director of the center, the NNMC Laser Vision Center becomes one of only three such centers available for corneal refractive surgery under the Navy program. He projected that with The corrective procedure is accomplished in less than 30 the new state-of-the-art equipment and available staff, minutes and is followed up by a visual exam. the center will be able to offer the procedure to approxi mately 80 Sailors and Marines a month. In addition to the new center at NNMC, the laser sur gery is currently available at Naval Medical Center San matism, looks forward to not having to worry about eye Diego and Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, VA. More glasses. Both Sailors looked on as their shipmate HM1 detailed descriptions about the priority groups, as well as Robert Huffman led the group getting the laser surgery. sample forms and letters used to request the surgery are LCDR Greg Wheelock, Director of the Navy Explosive available on the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Ordnance Disposal Fleet Liaison Unit located in Indian website at: navymedicine.med.navy.mil/PRK/ Head, MD, was also among the first to have the laser refractive_ surgery_ information.htrn. surgery. Shortly after a post-surgical exam, he was able For more information regarding the services offered to read words on a sign that he would not have been able at NNMC's Laser Vision Center, call (301) 295-1200. to read without his glasses before the surgery. His duties The clinic's hours of operation are 7:30a.m. to 4 p.m., require him not only to perform underwater dives, but Monday through Friday. 0 parachute jumping as well. He indicated that contact lenses can be awkward when parachute jumping, due to LCDR Austin is the Public Affairs Officer at the National Naval the airflow across the eyes. He will now be able to leave Medical Center, Bethesda MD. the lenses behind. NNMC's Laser Vision Center offers the corneal re fractive surgical procedure known as PRK or Photorefractive Keratectomy. The PRK procedure uses the laser to remove a small disc-shaped sliver of the cen tral cornea. PRK, one of two FDA approved refractive surgery procedures, is currently the only procedure of fered under the Navy program. LASIK, or Laser In-situ Keratomileusis, will not be offered until further studies being conducted in the military adequately establish its safety in the operational environment. Members requesting PRK will be screened by an op tometrist or ophthalmologist to determine if they are clini cally eligible for the surgery. If clinically suitable, the member's unit commander must endorse the request and determine the member's priority level. Once a command endorsed request is received, the NNMC Laser Vision Center staff will review requests for final determination Preparation for the eye surgery includes removal of the surface of clinical appropriateness and priority. layer of the cornea using an a moil brush. 2 NAVY MEDICINE Department Rounds New Medical Department Flag Selections CAPT Baker was commanding Iran-Iraq tanker war, where he officer ofNR Fleet Hospital Fort Dix, studied and published information on NJ, ( 1998-2000), executive officer of warm water diving which has been NR Fleet Hospital 9 in Everett, W A, included in the United Nations (1997 -1998), director of surgical Diving Manual. He was the staff services for NR Fleet Hospital 21 in medical officer for Special Boat Unit Dallas, TX, (1994-1997). 11 from 1982-1986, where he earned In 1996, CAPT Baker became the the "Officer in Charge Combatant first naval reserve officer to head the Craft, Riverine" insignia (NOBC Medical Civic Assistance Program 9279). (MEDCAP) Team for Operation He is Associate Professor of Cobra Gold in Thailand. In 1997 he Surgery on the faculty of the was part of the first naval unit to visit Uniformed Services University ofthe Cambodia in 22 years as a medical Health Sciences in Bethesda, and officer of the MEDCAP Team consults and teaches for the Center of deployed by Naval Special War Excellence in Disaster Management fare Group One.