Tropic Care no 'day at the beach' for AMDS Published Aug. 9, 2014 By Tech. Sgt. Douglas Hays 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Island living often conjures up images of being laid back and hanging-ten, but for Grissom medics, the opposite proved true. Eleven members of the 434th Aerospace Medicine Squadron provided medical, dental and vision care to thousands of people during Tropic Care 2014 on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai June 16-26, 2014. Working 14-hour days with only half a day off on the final day, the medics joined other professionals from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps to provide no-cost medical services to the communities of Kauai. Working side-by-side their counterparts, the medics helped form a team of 300 medical professionals. Three fixed sites and one mobile location helped the joint-service team see more than 9,000 patients perform more than 22,000 medical services and procedures during the two-week stint. "It was no day at the beach," said Master Sgt. Joyce Royston, 434th AMDS optometry technician and acting first sergeant on the trip. "We really had no down time. You get up, go to work, come home, go to bed and start again." "While all areas were busy, the dentistry staff was the biggest draw," said Royston. "They were swamped!" Doing cleanings, fillings, filling repair and extractions kept the staff busy, and for Capt. Katie Dahlen, 434th AMDS dentist and trip commander, the trip also offered a first-time experience. "I actually had patients hug me," Dahlen said. "The patients were extremely appreciative of the work we were doing. Some had never had dental work done before so they were grateful." For Dahlen, another plus to the trip was working alongside her counterparts from other branches. "We all may work a little differently, but we came together as a well-oiled machine," the captain added. Royston echoed those sentiments. "We all rolled up our sleeves and got the job done," Royston said. "It was one of the best joint-service missions I've been on." On the vision side of the house, partners in the optometry field teamed up with the military members and provided glasses to locals following their exams. In all, more than 5,000 pairs of glasses were made based on the prescriptions written by the optometry staff. "We did the exams and wrote the scripts, and every other day glasses would come back in for the patients," Royston said. While the work days were long and often grueling, the appreciation was evident to the medics. "People waved and honked at us and really let us know we made a difference in their lives," said Senior Airman Ashley Hyatt, 434th AMDS dental assistant. "We worked very hard, but we did what we set out to do and helped a lot of people."
