Lanaghan preparing for military duty

By DAVE GOSSETT, staff writer

WINTERSVILLE - Patrick Lanaghan was supposed to report for duty to plan for the presidential inauguration.

Instead, the executive director of the Jefferson-Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority is in Youngstown today, reporting for duty with the 910 Medical Squadron of the 910 Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve unit.

"I ended up having a choice between helping plan the logistics for the inauguration or a 10-day humanitarian mission to the Dominican Republic. I thought this trip to the Dominican Republic is more important," stated Lanaghan, a major and 16-year reserve veteran.

This will be the first time Lanaghan has visited the Dominican Republic.

"I will be splitting my time between my job here and the base in Youngstown as we prepare for this trip that will come in late April or early May. My job as a hospital administrator in the reserves is to coordinate the planning with the U. S. Southern Command, the Dominican Republic government and the U.S. Embassy there," explained Lanaghan.

"We are going to areas of that country that tourists don't visit. We will be seeing the poorest of the poor there as part of a U.S. military humanitarian visit. We are anticipating seeing 10,000 adults and children in just 10 days. These people literally have nothing. They are among the poorest in the world," said Lanaghan.

"I have already received some initial briefings on what we will be asked to do there, and now I will be working on the logistics of making sure everything proceeds smoothly for this trip," added Lanaghan.

The mission will include the transporting of personnel and equipment to set up a dental clinic and optometry clinic as well as a basic medical clinic.

"And we are also looking for sports equipment, toys, clothes and Spanish language books to hand out to the children who will be standing in line at these clinics. Baseball is very popular in the Dominican Republic, so I am asking for donations of new baseball gloves, bats, balls as well as soccer balls. New toys, new books written in Spanish and new clothing for children also are very welcome," said Lanaghan.

He noted anyone interested in making a donation to the mission can contact him at his Air Force Reserve office at (330) 609-1167.

The Air Force Reserves major spent several months in Iraq in 2007, but Lanaghan said this mission will be different.

"Spending that time in Iraq was literally a life-changing mission. I saw people and cases in Iraq that broke my heart. To look in the eyes of a mother or father who has brought their injured child to a military hospital and pleading with the medical personnel to save their son or daughter is something I will never forget. When you see a child injured by a bomb blast, it really makes you realize your problems aren't that important," related Lanaghan.

"We probably did more to build a good relationship with the Iraqis by offering medical help to those in need. I saw the appreciation from the Iraqis who we helped. They were always saying, 'God bless the USA' because they appreciated and understood our medical efforts," recalled Lanaghan.

"This won't be a war zone but we have been told the people we will be helping have probably never seen a dentist or eye doctor or medical doctor. Can you imagine having a toothache and never going to a dentist?" asked Lanaghan.

"We will also be deworming all of the people because we are assuming the people we will see have worms. We will also be offering instructions in home public health care and basic hygenic care to educate the residents to take better care of themselves," said Lanaghan.

He noted the trip will include, "two dentists, two optometrists and six physicians with varied specialties. We will also have nurses, med techs, logistics specialists and two security people, who will be responsible for our temporary base. The Dominicans will be responsible for security outside of our base.

"But part of my job will be to plan the 10-day mission so everything flows smoothly. We want to see as many patients as possible," Lanaghan observed.

"There is only so much we will be able to do. We won't be able to offer long-term care but will refer people to other agencies who work with the Dominican government. There are groups who can tap into other resources to help those in need," noted Lanaghan.

"This isn't an easy job to coordinate all of the issues we will be facing with the various agencies. But a humanitarian military mission is something the United States does all over the world. It is a way to show people in another country that we can offer help and we are good people," according to Lanaghan.

"There is so much we take for granted in our country that these people never have experienced. For most of them, our mission will be the first and possibly the only time they will ever receive proper medical care," stated Lanaghan.

(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com.)