In the countryside of Afghanistan on a quiet night on FOB Lagman all heck broke loose when a little guy from Indian walked through our clinic door. He said he was itching and felt sick with fever. His boss that came with him said,” It looks to me to be Chicken Pox.” Now why did I spend all that money on education? His boss was right! So, we started our battle against Varicella Zoster.
With Casey as our fearless leader who stayed up all night writing a plan of attack and containment we gathered all potential clients who may have been exposed either by shared living quarters or by shared ventilation. We came up with 17 contestants that were not thrilled about what they might have won. Oops! There were 16-one got away to KAF before we knew about it!
Next, each snatched a screening questionnaire - like it might get them out of homeroom, that asked about recent illness or blister like rashes and if they got the vaccine or had a history of Chicken Pox. You guessed it - they all said they had them as a child in relief. Fortunately, the 8 DynCorp employees really did have proof of their shots and were spared the horror of 2 weeks of isolation. We don’t use the word quarantine around here as that might cause a panic - like “Chicken Pox” wasn’t enough to cause them to run in horror.
We were then left to contain 7 non-DynCorp men and as space is a problem everywhere, they were left in their separate rooms. Thankfully, we only had to daily monitor 2 of the men who had travelled together and had recently arrived to Lagman. With only one with active pox a plan was made to see not only to his disease process, but also his daily basic needs.
Special thanks needs to be given to the many on Lagman that helped during this difficult period:
Jason, “boss man”, who pitched in and gathered meals for “Pox Ville” as the guys like to call themselves.
Thanks to the cooperation of all the DFAC workers and especially Supervisor L who gave special permission for take-out food.
Billeting, the PAX terminal, the cleaning crew (Ecolog), the library who generously donated activities and books that they knew they would never see again, (decon darling) HVAC and Electrical crews that came running when the isolation tent lost power. To all the men and women who stayed out of the way (and out of the guys only “private time” facility), I humbly thank you all.
To the FST Military men and women who gave their valuable resources, (the washer and dryer for bleaching clothes and linens) and donating replacement items for our detainee…very appreciated.
Lastly, I’d like to give a standing ovation to Camp Lagman who proved that “We Are Family!”
We are the proud DynCorp Medics: Casey, Marilette and Anna “Maria” who make it happen!
