tribe0701

Fort Sam Houston is Army, pretty nice facilities. Wolford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio is one of the biggest medical centers the Air Force has. There are also "major" medical facilities in Northern Cali; Dayton, Ohio; Mississippi; Maryland; Illinois and some others that I am running a blank on. Yet each AF base has either a hospital, ambulatory, surgery clinic or clinic. By any chance are you looking to stay in Florida? If so, you probably already know there are 5 major Air Force bases there and I am sure navy bases too. True, the Air Force does not get deployed as much. It's called the AEF (Aerospace Expeditionary Force) cycle. In a nutshell, here is how it works: 1. "IF" you go to a mobility base (and I stress if, you may not go to a deployable base). After you get there you enter training and get slotted to an AEF. 2. That AEF is on a cycle. The cycle rotates every 15 months. 3. For example: your AEF is tasked with a deployment in which it requires 6 nurses to deploy. -- The AEF is not only your base. The AEF is a combination of many bases. So, each base provides so many personnel in different AF specialities to go to a deployed location. EX: If there are 5 bases in the AEF, and 6 nurses needed, 1 base sends 2 and all others send 1. 4. Your particular base may get tasked with sending 2 nurses. If you have 6 nurses on your unit, then 2 have to go. -- The point being, they will not depleat a base totally, they take a little from base A, base B and so on. 5. If you must go, then you go. 6. You spend 90 days on deployemnt and then another AEF replaces your AEF in 90 days. Yes 90 days. There have been a few 120 day deployments, but they are mostly for special forces personnel. 7. You return to your base and be prepared for deployment in 15 months. 8. So 15 months rolls around and another AEF tasking is sent. The Air Force thinks logically and realizes that you went on the last deployment, so common sense tells the AF that 2 OTHER nurses will go, instead of the same as last time. 9. Now, in essence you could go 30 months or more without a deployment. 10. Yet, that cannot be guaranteed due to various manning issues and you may have to deploy every 15 months (worst case scenerio). 11. Bottom line, you have to be prepared for deployment every 15 months, in reality, you would most likely not deploy every 15 months, unless you like the money deployments have to offer and like some adventure. I am sure your recruiter can explain this to you and validate it. They are really not all bad, just get to know your recruiter. Mine was great. Ask for the good, bad and ugly. Hope this helps

I just went to buy new shoes and I tried on the danskos for the first time. They felt very strange. I liked them just thought that it would take some time to get used. Then I tried on another similar clog called Modellista and they were great. They have a tempur foam lining in them (like the pillows) and they are so comfy! They mold to you foot imediately. I am going to try them out at work on monday I will let you know how they are. They look just like danskos and are about the same price just a little "squishier" in the insole. Does anyone else have Modelista shoes? Do you like them? How well do they hold up?

Kora, Did you ever look at the Air Force Nurse Corps? Might be worth a call to the local Air Force Health Professions Representative. Don't you owe it to yourself to check it out too? Air Force member 13 years and still going.....

Why not look into the Air Force Nurse Corps too? At least get information sent to you about it. Why limit yourself by looking at one service? you may be surprised at what you see. Air Force Member 13 years and still going............

Interesting Article at http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123006896 Medical care at 15,000 feet by Tech. Sgt. Bob Oldham 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs 2/3/2004 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- On the ground and in the air, airmen in this part of the world can rest assured that medical care is always close by. If a person is injured, medical people on the ground stabilize and treat the patient. But if that person needs to be transported by air for specialized care, a team of medical professionals from the 379th Aeromedical Squadron are just a short flight away. On any given day, they might haul patients from any airfield in the area to collection points, where they then might be airlifted to Europe or America, depending on the needs of the patient. "It's very rewarding work," said 1st Lt. Matt Smith, a flight nurse and medical crew director. As the medical crew director, he oversees the patient treatment and acts as a liaison between the medical team on board and the aircrew flying the plane. The lieutenant is deployed here from the Minnesota Air National Guard. He said some days can be quiet when the crew sits on alert waiting for something to happen. On Jan. 28, though, something did happen. A Turkish national in Afghanistan needed transport to Baghdad to receive specialized care. Lieutenant Smith and his crew jumped into action, preparing a C-130 Hercules to airlift the patient to Baghdad. The Hercules is a versatile aircraft and can perform a variety of missions, including aeromedical evacuation. The crew loaded equipment and supplies onto the plane, configured the litters and waited for a Minnesota Air National Guard C-130 carrying the patient to arrive from Afghanistan. As the Minnesota cargo plane taxied into position on the tarmac at an undisclosed location, the lieutenant's crew put the finishing touches on their C-130 deployed here from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. Aircraft tail to aircraft tail, the patient transfer took place. The patient, who had a coma-producing concussion from a two-vehicle accident, was in guarded condition for his ride to Baghdad. "From what I was told, I believe he was the only survivor in the vehicle he was riding in," the lieutenant said. The patient's prognosis was unclear at this time, according to the nurse. "Some people recover from these really well, others it takes a little more time," he said. Watching over him every mile of the way on the second leg of his flight was Capt. (Dr.) Erik von Rosenvinge, a physician deployed here from Andrews AFB, Md., as part of a critical care air transport team. On the team with Dr. von Rosenvinge was Capt. Lionel Lyde, a nurse, and Senior Airman Deanna Rodriguez, a respiratory therapist. The doctor said his role was to monitor the patient and treat any symptoms. In this case, the patient's brain had stopped making a chemical that affects the kidneys, a condition known as diabetes insipidus. As such, the patient was voiding around 2 liters of urine an hour, bringing on dehydration and low potassium. To combat that, the doctor prescribed fluids to rehydrate the patient and lower his sodium levels, and he prescribed extra potassium to replace what was being lost. "Most people urinate less than 100 milliliters an hour, and this guy is losing 2 liters an hour. That's a lot," he said. About three hours later, the C-130 carrying the patient touched down in Baghdad. The medical crew, dressed in full battle gear, transferred the patient to a waiting Army helicopter, which immediately took off for a hospital in Baghdad where a neurosurgeon could have the patient's brain scanned and provide treatment. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123006896