CAIRO, Ill. — Cairo Junior/Senior High School lost power Sunday morning during an Innovative Readiness Training mission that provides a no-cost health clinic to the surrounding community in Cairo. Service members from the Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, active duty Air Force, and Navy Reserve continued treatment for patients during the blackout.
“It is challenging, especially for some of the areas that have a need for power,” said Air National Guard Col. William Bray, a medical provider for the IRT mission and 181st Medical Group commander, Terre Haute, Indiana. “We have been able to improvise in the medical area… But some of the other areas that rely on powered technology are struggling a little bit.”
The lack of power introduces a new obstacle for service members to overcome while training in a real-world scenario. It also carries with it adverse effects on the capabilities of the mission.
Some departments for this mission use equipment that require electricity and as such will not be able to take patients until power is restored, said Navy Reserve Chief Hospital Corpsman Zac Mollett, assigned to the Expeditionary Medical Facility Great Lakes and Cairo site noncommissioned officer in charge.
Although some departments were unable to function fully, IRT personnel persevered and found ways to work around the power outage while still providing no-cost health care to the remaining patients for the day.
“In any operation, you need to be readily available for almost any contingency,” said Bray. “You can’t think of everything, but the reason we train is to be able to work together and respond to these things as they come up.”
The Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corporation Tri-State IRT 2019 mission will continue providing no-cost health care to the surrounding communities through the clinics located in Sikeston, Missouri and Barlow, Kentucky.