Naval Medical Officers Provide Help During Operation Pacific Passage

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (NNS) -- Two naval officers assigned to naval Hospital Lemoore helped provide health care for military families returning to the United States from Japan via Travis Air Force Base (AFB) as part of Operation Pacific Passage, March 23-25.

Lt. Cmdr. John Broom and Lt. Sean Skinner, both from naval Hospital Lemoore, joined the team of military and civilian personnel at Travis AFB, helping to ease the transition back to the United States for those affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

According to Skinner, who works as a family nurse practitioner, the initial plan was to have everyone headed to the San Francisco area to arrive at the San Francisco International Airport.

"You never know what kind of medical needs you're going to have in an operation like this," said Skinner. "If it's something minor or major or something in between, you sort of have to be ready for anything."

Both Skinner and Broom said that working at the San Francisco airport before the flights were moved to Travis AFB was difficult.

"San Francisco was a challenge when it came to resources," said Broom, who oversaw the temporary medical unit set up to support the operation. "When we moved to Travis Air Force Base, the Air Force provided us with everything we needed."

According to Broom, the two medical officers dealt with a lot of common problems like earaches, fevers, and a few respiratory infections.

Broom said the team also dealt with premature labor when he discovered a mother of four who appeared to be pain.

"I was making my medical rounds and checking on everyone, she looked like she was in pain, so I asked her if she was okay," said Broom. "It turned out she was in labor, so we set her kids up with our daycare providers and sent her to the hospital. She wound up delivering the baby that night. We were told that the baby and mom are both okay."

Both Broom and Skinner said this was the first time they had worked jointly with the Air Force and that the communication and support from both branches made it easy to deal with the unfolding events.

"We have had a great integration process with the Air Force in support of this operation," said Skinner. "We meshed very well."

Broom said helping in a situation like this brings a great deal of satisfaction.

"It's like I tell my wife," said Broom. "The best thing about doing this is, I can feel good knowing that some Sailor, Soldier, Marine or Airman is back in the rear and he knows his wife and kids are taken care of while he's doing his job and serving his country."

For more news from Naval Air Station Lemoore, visit www.navy.mil/local/lemoore/