Robins ensures Airmen meet medical requirements to deploy Published Feb. 4, 2008 By Holly Birchfield 78th ABW/PA Robins Air Force Base, GA -- Being mission-ready is a priority at Robins Air Force Base. Military members and civilians alike in the 78th Medical Group are making sure Airmen meet their personal mobility requirements. Part of that involves meeting medical requirements. With the April Operational Readiness Inspection closing in, Maj. Janette Goodman, Public Health Flight commander in the 78th Aerospace Medicine Squadron, said the medical group is working with unit deployment managers to ensure Airmen are meeting medical standards. "The personal mobility requirements basically pertain to those items that each member is expected to have current prior to deployment," she said. "From the medical standpoint, there are specific medical clearance requirements that we're supposed to make sure the members are current with and that involves immunizations, any physical exams, any lab work or dental work (they may need)." Major Goodman said there are several components considered for compliance in the medical realm. "First of all, they must not be on a profile or have any conditions that are considered to be duty-limiting conditions, which could make them not necessarily deployable for a location," she said. "We also check to make sure that all required blood work is documented in the member's medical record." Major Goodman said this blood work involves ensuring one-time labs are current for the Airmen. Good dental health is also a must for mission readiness. Airmen must be current on dental care and not have any lingering dental conditions that could require care in the deployed location, Major Goodman said. Major Goodman said each Airman must have a current Preventative Health Assessment on file with the medical group before being eligible to deploy. Airmen must also ensure they have everything needed for equipment such as gas masks. "If they have glasses, they must have gas mask inserts with them," she said. "So, we check to make sure that gas mask inserts have been ordered or issued, and that is actually a combined mobility requirement since the member's unit has to make sure they have it, but the order to get the gas mask inserts is through the Optometry Clinic." Major Goodman said while requirements fall on the unit, the medical group tracks them through PIMR, also known as the Preventive Health Assessment and Individual Medical Readiness system. Major Goodman said the system flags individuals using a color code system, with green indicating members are up to date, yellow indicating a requirement is due, and red indicating a requirement is overdue. Notices concerning requirements are sent to Airmen's units each month, and a medical group representative does briefings during monthly training sessions to address requirements. Commanders may also use the Air Expeditionary Force Center online to monitor their Airmen's requirement needs, Major Goodman said. Dan Atkins, a medical readiness manager and a unit deployment manager for the 78th MDG, said Airmen should stay atop requirements and meet them as needed. "Individuals need to keep check on their individual medical readiness status and meet those requirements before they expire," he said. "The other thing they should do is keep up on all deployment-related training." Although some Airmen are still getting updated on shots and other areas of medical readiness, Major Goodman said Robins is doing a good job of being medically ready. Major Goodman said mission readiness should always be Airmen's top priority. "This isn't just for ORI," she said. "This is a requirement all the time. We're supposed to be medically ready to deploy....This should become part of our standard psyche."