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Bioenvironmental engineering: Patient care starts at prevention

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Destinee Dougherty
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Last year, a 20th Fighter Wing F-16CM Fighting Falcon jettisoned two 370-gallon external fuel tanks on a training mission during an in-flight emergency over Etheredge Millpond, South Carolina.

Assisting in the recovery of the tanks, Airmen assigned to the 20th Aerospace Medicine Squadron bioenvironmental engineering flight were on the scene coordinating joint operations, organizing a decontamination line, and protecting 18 people within an area spanning approximately 600 acres, all while preventing approximately $20,000 in environmental fees.

In addition to providing emergency response, the bioenvironmental engineering flight provides health risk assessment for Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., determining workplace hazards and setting preventative measures in order to keep personnel healthy and safe.

“Patient care starts at prevention,” said Maj. Alfred Doby, 20th AMDS bioenvironmental engineering flight commander. “We’re in the business of keeping you out of the clinic. We want Airmen to be out in their shop doing their job, not coming in here because of some type of illness.”

The flight of 14 personnel runs 35 Air Force, federal, and state programs including environmental health, occupational health, and emergency response.

When a Shaw aircraft went down last year, Airmen from the bioenvironmental engineering flight also responded to the emergency to make sure the aircraft parts were recovered and the scene was properly restored.

“We can’t crash a plane and then just leave it there,” said Doby. “There’s a lot of chemicals that can go into the ground and hurt the environment. That’s when we come in; we monitor those chemicals and provide recommendations on how to clean it up and protect ourselves while doing that,”

The flight has an “occupational health season,” which lasts from approximately January to September every year, focusing on various 20th FW units that use hazardous equipment or substances. The flight ensures the proper safety measures are being taken, such as wearing the proper personal protective equipment, locking up and tagging broken equipment, and using proper work-rest cycles.

“Our responsibilities are to perform health risk assessment for any worker on base who has any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological hazards,” said Tech. Sgt. Leslie Diaz, 20th AMDS occupational health noncommissioned officer in charge. “We will go out, evaluate their job, their processes, make sure they’re safe, that they’re not getting sick or injured by any workplace hazards.”

The bioenvironmental engineering flight categorizes work centers into three numerical categories and performs special surveillance for immediate health threats. The category of the shop is determined by how many hazards it contains, which dictates how often it must be evaluated.

Another way the flight contributes to the safety of a 20th FW units is by providing adequate safety training. Training effectively is more productive than just hoping things turn out well said Doby.

“Hope is not a plan,” said Doby. “We want to make sure these guys are training on a regular basis, that they’re being compliant with Air Force regulations, and that the training is valuable and effective.”

The 20th AMDS bioenvironmental engineering flight is also the pilot unit for new technology and equipment concerning home station medical response.

As the pilot unit, the flight manages a $121 million home station medical response equipment package. The package supports seven combatant commands and 79 F-16s and allows the flight to identify, quantify, and provide health risk assessments for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear hazards and natural disasters that could occur at Shaw Air Force Base and the local area.

By providing operational health risk assessment expertise and ensuring the health and safety of Team Shaw, the 20th AMDS bioenvironmental engineering flight assists personnel in maintaining individual medical readiness, allowing the 20th FW to provide combat ready Airmen and airpower to meet any challenge, anytime, anywhere.