Deployed reservists in good hands

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Erik Hofmeyer
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  Stories of selflessness and courage are still being revealed over one month after the 93rd Fighter Squadron's return from a deployment to Balad Air Base, Iraq.

While the 93rd Fighter Squadron personnel were deployed on a 90-day mission as an aviation package with pilots, maintainers and maintenance support personnel, they had the comfort of knowing exactly who would be caring for their health.

Maj. (Dr.) Philip Lozman, 482nd Medical Squadron flight surgeon, and Master Sgt. Paul Steszewski, Tech. Sgt. Deanna Walker and Tech. Sgt. Errol Johnson, 482nd MDS aerospace medical technicians, all volunteered to deploy as a squadron medical element (SME) to provide primary medical care for all Homestead reservists. The treatments for 482nd FW personnel ranged from medical evaluations, sewing up minor injuries sustained on the job or prescribing antibiotics to ensure the Makos continued flying close air support missions for the servicemembers on the ground.

In addition to treating minor injuries, Sergeant Walker, Steszewski and Johnson all dedicated their spare time to serve in the base hospital and emergency room assisting the medical staff with triage and anything else needed.

"The three were tremendous assets to the entire medical facility," Doctor Lozman said. "They all spent a lot of time in the ER as volunteers."

"I'd get off work around 7 p.m. and help in the ER until around midnight, and I'd spend my one day off each week helping in the ER," Sergeant Walker said. "I had a great opportunity to work with hospital medics and treat servicemembers and Iraqi civilians."

The 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group at Balad AB is the only air evacuation hospital in Iraq providing a full spectrum of medical services for U.S. and coalition military, civilians, contractors, as well as Iraqi Army, police and civilians. The medical group consists of the Air Force Theater Hospital, Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility and the Air Force Clinic.

"It's great to help out the guys working 'outside of the wire,'" she said. "Treating them is my way of thanking them."

In addition to regular duties at the SME, Doctor Lozman's extensive civilian experience as an orthopedic surgeon served as an invaluable tool to injured Americans and Iraqis at the Air Force Theater Hospital, which is a major trauma center with more than 650 ER patients and 1,500 surgical procedures conducted each month.

"It was a very similar experience to what it's like working as an orthopedic surgeon in large cities. With regard to the skill set required to work in a place like that, it was similar to what was in my training, Doctor Lozman said regarding the trauma patients at the Air Force Theater Hospital.

"From an emotional point of view, it's a very difficult situation. You're taking care of a lot of young soldiers who are very motivated to be there. Even when they're injured, they tell you right out, 'I've got to get back with my guys,'" he said.

The doctor was also tasked with the additional responsibilities of working in the Air Force clinic for everybody outside the fighter squadron, and in the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility to assist and make arrangements for wounded servicemembers to be transported from Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

"Every wounded soldier is transported to Balad from forward operating bases, and from there they are transported to Germany," he said. "They require a flight doctor to validate whether those injured soldiers are healthy enough to be transported on a four-and-a-half hour flight. It's the flight doctor's responsibility to manage the care of the patients once they have arrived in Balad until they were on the plane headed to Germany."

Doctor Lozman had long felt the urge to serve in the military, and had been aware of the need for doctors in the Air Force.

The opportunity presented itself to the Coconut Grove resident when a recruiter notified him of a flight surgeon opening at Homestead Air Reserve base three years ago, and he jumped on the opportunity at age 39.

"My inspiration was basically watching the news at night and seeing the wounded soldiers," he said. "The deployment was a great experience for me, and I was honored to be there. The entire squadron did a great job."