'Charlie Med' Soldiers Take Care of Camp Taji, Look Out for Each Other

'Charlie Med' Soldiers Take Care of Camp Taji, Look Out for Each Other
Multi-National Division Baghdad
Story by Sgt. Doug Roles
Date: 06.15.2009
Posted: 06.15.2009 11:10

TAJI, Iraq – Pennsylvania Army National Guard Soldiers staffing Camp Taji's main medical clinic are prepared to treat the worst of battlefield injuries but hope the bulk of their cases continues to be sprained ankles and upset stomachs. Soldiers of Company C "Charlie Med," 328th Brigade Support Battalion, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, operate the facility which provides basic healthcare to the thousands of Soldiers and civilians on the post which is located north of Baghdad.

"All walks of life come in here, said Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Strathmeyer of Lititz, Pa., the clinic's non-commissioned officer in charge. "We treat anything from a Hesco barrier getting dropped on someone's foot to gunshot wounds. We've got the only Guard [facility] and we're the highest level of care on the FOB [forward operating base]."

The clinic's lab workers can do urine analysis and blood counts. Tests that can't be performed at the clinic are sent to a combat support hospital in Baghdad. The medical clinic supports about 10,000 Soldiers and up to another 12,000 civilians at Taji.

Strathmeyer, a medic who has been with Co. C for 10 years, said there are "a lot of different working pieces" to the facility. He explained that the level-two care clinic operates out of three buildings and provides dental care, radiology, pharmacy and physical therapy. Level one care is medical attention provided in the field and at battalion aid stations. The level two clinic here can be thought of as the step between field care and the Combat Support Hospital.

"We run a full pharmacy. We've written over 9,000 prescriptions since February," Strathmeyer said.

Strathmeyer, a York, Pa. police officer who deployed to Ramadi, Iraq in 2004 with the Pennsylvania Guard's 2nd Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, said this tour marks the first time Co. C has deployed as an entire unit.
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