BELLE CHASSE, La. — Capt. John Keel hunched forward and
quickly stepped out to the flight line as helicopter blades whirled
above his head.
Alongside was Keel’s patient, who was suffering from internal
bleeding.
They boarded an Army Huey chopper and took off seconds later for
a hospital in nearby New Orleans.
For Keel, it was just another day at the office.
A flight surgeon with the S.C. Air National Guard, Keel is one of
425 S.C. Guard members deployed to the Gulf Coast in the wake of
hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“I couldn’t wait to get here to help,” said Keel, a physician at
the Walton Rehabilitation Center in Augusta.
As part of the rescue and humanitarian aid effort, the South
Carolinians have handled a range of tasks from purifying water to
handling emergency communications to enforcing curfews.
Although they are separated from families and jobs, the Guard
members said their assignment offers a sharp contrast to deployments
overseas, especially to war zones.
“This is for our own people,” said Maj. Mark Cox of Sumter. “This
is why I joined the Guard.”
Keel and Cox are part of a five-man contingent of the S.C. Air
National Guard assigned to Naval Air Station Belle Chasse, about 25
miles south of New Orleans.
Belle Chasse is one of three major supply and support bases in
Louisiana set up to assist in search and recovery efforts.
The airmen, members of the S.C. Air Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing
medical detachment, are caring for the 4,300 National Guard members
stationed here.
“We’re here to make sure our war fighters are staying healthy,”
said Tech. Sgt. J. Wrenn, an Iraq war veteran from Columbia.
Wrenn works at the field hospital, a complex of 10 large, green
tents at the north end of the base.
The hospital includes an operating room, emergency room, sick
ward, X-ray room, laboratory, pharmacy, plus enough gear and
supplies to keep it self-sufficient for seven days.
“This is a regular doc-in-the-box,” Wrenn said.
Two huge C-17 cargo planes, like those that fly from Charleston
Air Force Base, transport the facility to any place in the world. It
takes two to four hours to set up.
Troops are treated for broken bones, cuts, puncture wounds, upper
respiratory problems and dehydration. Insect bites seem to be the
most common malady and can be tough if infected.
The staff aims to get the patient treated and back to work, Wrenn
said. If their injuries or ailments are too severe, then Army
helicopters ferry the patients to local hospitals.
The guardsmen are assigned here for periods of two to four
weeks.
“For me, it’s a break,” said Staff Sgt. Wayland Baker of North
Augusta. “Whenever you’re in something like this, you know you’re
giving back to your fellow Americans.”
Tech Sgt. Patrick Blackman of Florence has been in the Gulf Coast
region for nearly six weeks. He initially came down as part of
paramedic team. He then was mobilized as an Air Guard member.
It’s a long time to be away from his wife and three children back
in Florence, Blackman said.
“The separation is difficult. I try to explain that Daddy is
doing the right thing.”
Reach Crumbo at 771-8503 or ccrumbo@thestate.com
