Medical Group wins innovation award

A 96th Medical Group team at Eglin Air Force Base recently won the Air Force Medicine Service’s 2015 Outstanding Achievement in Innovation Award.

The Air Force Surgeon General recognized the 96th MDG’s collaboration in creating the United States Transportation Command’s first Ebola transport isolation system as their most notable achievement.

The team’s mission was to figure out how to transport Ebola patients from primitive areas where the virus is present without contaminating the aircraft and its crew.

“How do you decontaminate a C-17? That’s very difficult,” said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Janelle Robertson, an Eglin infectious disease doctor.

From the start, 96th MDG Airmen worked with project engineers in Missouri and at the 53rd Wing to offer key input. The information they provided was instrumental in the design and operation of the infectious disease flying intensive care suite.

They assisted the engineers in design processes and provided them information about the virus; how it spreads and what equipment was needed to contain it.

The engineers designed an isolation pod that fit within an aircraft that allowing for quarantine of infected patients and containment of viral particles they release. The suite also provides an area for medical personnel to safely change in and out of and dispose of protective gear. In essence, medical personnel can go inside and through the suite to care for infected patients.

After the prototype was complete, the team mixed and splashed themselves with fluorescent ‘glow germs’ to conduct first-hand proof of concept for the pod. According to Robertson, Ebola patients produce over seven liters of vomit, diarrhea and other bodily fluids daily. Their goal was to exit the pod without any contamination.

“The glow germs made the pod trials more realistic and helped us figure out how to get in and out of the pod and how to remove our protective gear without contaminating ourselves,” said Robertson. “The biggest win was when we switched to a different Tyvek suit when we learned the first suit leaked when it was saturated.”

Robertson and her team also trained C-17 air crews at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina and at Scott AFB in Illinois, as well as critical care air transport teams in Ebola protocols and the operation of the TIS.

“We thought, ‘Let’s fly with this pod and see how well it works in concept,'” she said.

The 96th MDG’s team’s work did not end there. Later, they were selected as subject matter experts to participate in the West Africa disease prevention initiative.  The program develops and ensures disease containment and education plans are in place for countries at risk for Ebola and other infectious diseases.

Roberts said her team led three courses on every aspect of the Ebola virus and provided a public health perspective about what the infection means.  Countries in attendance were Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea Basau and Mali.

The following 96th MDG members were part of the team selected for the award.

Lt. Col. Janelle L. Robertson
Lt. Col. Joseph P. Forester
Lt. Col. Melissa M. King
Maj. Sean M. Marts
Maj. Benjamin Stermole
Maj. Christopher M. Stauch
Maj. Anthony C. Brown
Maj. Kelly D. Heegard
Capt. Julie Root
1st Lt. Alana N. Rayon
Senior Master Sgt. Melissa L. Gee
Master Sgt. Rachel J. Dellapietro
Tech Sgt. Robert R. Ayala
Tech Sgt. Roslyn M. Evans
Staff Sgt. Jessica L. Fillingame
Staff Sgt. Leah A. Medlenka
Staff Sgt. Alicia D. Ringlehan
Staff Sgt. Bethany A. Burger
Staff Sgt. Luz D. Blanco
Senior Airman Chassidy D. Wade
Senior Airman Thomas K. Maher, Jr.
Senior Airman Eric P. Downes
Senior Airman Karen A. Galante
Senior Airman Monica E. Hipsher
Leslie R. Shore
Naomi Strano
Robin Kressin
Abby M. Kiser
Nancy N. Lavigne
Dawn L. Rousse
Terry T. Swartz
Jeffrey Moreland

Article by Ilka Cole,
Team Eglin Public Affairs

Photo: An Airman secures a panel on the Ebola Transport Isolation System at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The TIS is an isolation pod that fits within an aircraft allowing for the quarantine of infected patients and containment of the viral particles they release. The suite provides an area where medical personnel can go inside and through it to care for infected patients without contaminating themselves or the aircraft. (U.S. Air Force/courtesy photo)