By Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brianna K. Green, U.S. Southern Command
The ability to shower in a remote campground, or shave every morning in a plastic storage container or walk on dry sand because of proper drainage are all luxuries made possible by the Continuing Promise 2018 Forward-Deployed Preventive Medicine Unit 2.
Public health is an essential part of daily life, in and out of the military. Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit 2 performs many tasks to help protect sailors, soldiers and the local community during CP18.
Team Effort
“Public health is a critical part of any mission, because if troops are sick, they cannot complete the mission,” said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Adriane Weldon, a hospital corpsman assigned to NEPMU 2 in Norfolk, Virginia. “Educating the public really does help lessen the transmission and spread of diseases, as well as build a bond between nations.”
Public health covers a wide range of necessities such as water purification, epidemiology, parasitology, food-borne illnesses and berthing and food inspections.
“This is really a team effort here,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Amy Rogers, officer in charge of the Forward-Deployed Preventive Medicine Unit. “We have a physician, an entomologist, environmental health officer and three preventative medicine technicians.”
The team began their mission in Honduras by coordinating meetings…