Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston –
U.S. Army South Joint Task Force Red Wolf members were in La
Blanca, Guatemala, recently to meet with civic leaders to plan medical
readiness training exercise, or MEDRETE.
MEDRETE is a free medical clinic U.S. Army South, along with
the government of Guatemala, has set up to address regional medical concerns
and develop effective, economical solutions that can be used throughout the
region.
The exercise is scheduled from Monday to June 2, with the
clinic open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The meeting covered a variety of topics and provided a
platform for U.S. Army South Joint Task Force Red Wolf members to pass along
information to the community.
“Our intent for today was to meet with local civic leaders
who are responsible for all the districts,” said U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Edward
Vela, 321st Civil
Affairs Brigade, task force civil affairs planner. “We
wanted to set a plan going forward so they know what days each district is
assigned to come to the MEDRETE. We will to offer general medical screenings,
dental, optometry, preventive medicine, obstetrics and gynecology and
pharmaceutical services.”
U.S. service members assigned to the task force along with
Aroldo Corderro, Municipal of La Blanca mayor, took the time to meet with the
local civic leaders to gather additional information and better prepare for the
approaching MEDRETE.
“We obtained the list of people who plan to attend from the
civic leaders,” Vela said. “This will help us better prepare to help them as
they come in. Before this, our primary contact was the La Blanca mayor, so we
were able to hear directly from the civic leaders about the people they
represent.”
The medical clinic is a large-scale operation that
positively impacts a large percentage of the local population.
“There is a community population of roughly 34,000 people
and we will unfortunately only be able to see 600 to 800 patients each day
throughout the entire MEDRETE,” Vela said.
The U.S. government is dedicated to building partnerships
with Guatemala and the Central
American region and improving the level of health services, prolonging
life and enhancing training for personnel in the healthcare fields.