Sawyers.
The exercise began with a two-day conference to exchange ideas and present information on important clinical concerns in Vanuatu, an archipelago of 83 islands. The conference prepared MEDRETE participants for the clinical portion of the exercise conducted on Tanna Island. It also covered increasingly important issues for the military health-care community and soldiers in the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Exercise participants provided medical care and treatment for the people of Vanuatu. Vanuatu’s population of 200,000 is largely Melanesian, but also includes French, British, Australian, New Zealand, Vietnamese, and Chinese peoples, as well as other Pacific Islanders.

During the clinical portion of the exercise, mobile teams worked in villages or at clinic sites. “We worked with the Vanuatu Public Health Department to identify those places where we were most needed and those that had the most patients,” said Maj. Sawyer. She explained that the villagers did not have many of the problems that affect other areas of the world. “The dentists screened about 400 children and found very little tooth decay.”

A combined Thai-U.S. medical team treats a local villager’s foot problem on Tanna Island, Vanuatu.

U.S. Army Capt. Brian Gillam, a dentist, extracts a tooth during TENDON VALIENT II.