Summary
With the new initiative for expulsion of undocumented civilians from the United States, there is no guarantee that the situation will be any different from that in 1994. Certainly, medical teams have made significant strides in the 30 years that have elapsed since the boat people phenomenon, but the detainees still face similar issues.
Introduction
In 1994, two groups of boat people sailed out into the Florida Straits hoping to make it to America. There were thousands of them. The Coast Guard organized a flotilla to interdict the vessels, some seaworthy, most not. The refugees, leaving their homelands for political reasons, in Haiti and Cuba, were sequestered at Guantanamo Bay on the southeastern shore of Cuba and others in Panama.
Thousands were cared for in tent cities, through the heat, the rain, a hurricane, and personal pain and misery. Medical teams were dispatched to Guantanamo to treat the refugees for all kinds of problems. One of the teams, from Hill AFB in Utah, was on the front lines in 1994, their story is below.
The Hill Top Times, Vol. 48, No. 51, Hill AFB, 22 December 1994.
75th Med Group team returns from ‘Gitmo’
by Bill Orndorff, Chief of Internal Information
After 90 days of riots, rumors and treating sea sores, a Hill medical team is glad to be back home.
The team from the 75th Medical Group went to Guantanamo Naval Air Station, Cuba, to support the migrant processing effort. The group coordinated with the 59th Air Transportable Hospital and worked in clinics set up in the camps.
Team members were Maj. (Dr.) David Sullivan; Capt. Scott Hall. physician’s assistant; TSgt. Robert Petrarca, independent duty medical technician; and SSgt. Dwight Striby, SrA. David Paschke and SrA. Roberta Chaves, medical technicians.
“We treated between 100,000 and 130,000 people in two months,” Sullivan said. “We averaged 300 to 400 patients per day per clinic over a six-hour period. Usually there were one to two providers in each clinic. We saw patients as well as supervised those Cuban doctors who augmented us.”
The migrants were the “boat people” who had fled Cuba for political reasons. Many had tried to go to the United States, but were stopped by the Coast Guard and the Navy. Nearly 24,000 Cubans are being house at Guantanamo, and another 8.000 are in Panama.
When the Hill team first arrived, they treated the migrants for dehydration and other illnesses encountered on the rafts.
“Some of them had ‘sea sores,’ where the skin broke down after dangling in the water for a long time,” Sullivan said. “They also had immersion wounds that had become infected after the fish fed on them.”
After the majority of migrants had arrived, treatment included acute care for acid indigestion, ulcers, hypertension. diabetes, coughs, colds and lacerations. The seriously ill were taken to the United States for treatment. Sullivan said.
“Hernia was a major medical problem as was dental care,” Sullivan said. “Apparently there is little anesthesia in Cuba, so if something isn’t necessary, it doesn’t get done. The dentists must have pulled teeth by the thousands.”
Treatment also ranged from pediatrics to geriatrics.
“Some had new babies less than a month after arriving. Others brought their 85-year-old father and 82-year-old mother,” Sullivan said. “There were also some deaths. One was a man with terminal lung cancer. He came with his family because they wouldn’t leave Cuba without him.” Interpreters were available some of the time, though often the medics relied on gestures to communicate.
“It was a learning experience,” Paschke said. “I learned more about medicine during my time in Cuba than my whole time in the Air Force. Here, we don’t have the chance to see all the procedures like we saw down there.”
“It was different from anything I’d ever been on,” Striby added, noting that he’d be willing to serve another 90 days in Cuba. “The stuff I learned was incredible. We saw some nasty, gaping wounds. We followed the progress of patients like regular doctors do. It was a tremendous amount of work with days that lasted 10 to 12 hours.
“It was great to work with the kids. We missed our kids at home, so it was great to play with the ones there,” Striby said. “We’d give them a piece of candy and they’d freak — they were so happy.” All was not quiet for the hospital that was contained in seven, 60-foot-long tents. The hospital was moved twice due to rioting and weather conditions
“We moved the first time after the demonstrations, about a quarter-mile away,” Sullivan said. “The Cubans demonstrated outside the camp because they wanted to go to the States. They were angry and frustrated.
“Yet, even during the demonstrations, they didn’t bother the medical people. When we were moving the hospital, we were cut off by the crowds and detained several hours. But when someone saw we were medical, they made a hole and let us through because they appreciated our being there.”
The hospital was moved a second time after Hurricane Gordon flooded the hospital and ran a river of water through the emergency room. “It was difficult to be there and provide medical care — and living conditions weren’t ideal.” Sullivan said, “but the camaraderie made it livable. Morale wasn’t always good for those serving at Guantanamo Bay. Their family members were gone, so it was as difficult for them as it was for us.”
“We knew we’d be leaving in a few months, so we had a light at the end of the tunnel,” Petrarca added. “Some who were stationed there had been there for a couple of years. Their family members had been evacuated and they didn’t know if they’d be back. There were more personnel assigned to the base for Operation Sea Signal than the regular base population. It put a strain on base facilities since they weren’t set up for such large groups.”
Still, not all was difficult in Cuba.
“On our off time we’d rent a pontoon boat and go around the bay,” Chaves said. “We’d go swimming on the beaches and in the base pool, or go snorkeling. We also took advantage of the bowling alley or gym.”
“Mail was the best part,” Striby added. “It didn’t matter who it was from or what it was. Even bills showed us someone cared.”
In addition to medical care, the team was often asked to confirm or deny rumors.
“The Cubans fed on rumors,” Striby said. “One said that single parent families, people under 15 and those over 70 would be allowed in the States.” Several of the migrants had radios and listened to Radio Martine.
“They knew some of the rumors before the military did.” Petrarca said. ‘‘There were also AT&T phones available, so some would call relatives in the States to confirm the rumors.”
Even though living conditions weren’t ideal, the Cubans put up with them rather than go back. Their number one priority was to get to the United States, Sullivan said.
“Most of the Cubans were well-educated and understood the political ramifications,” he said. “‘They understood the problems. They wanted to go to the States, but realized we couldn’t open the doors. Most were willing to be patient and wait until they could go to the States.
“One man wanted to return to Cuba. He thought he could get by and not miss his family. but he missed them and regarded life there as not so tough so he wanted to go back. But there wasn’t any way to process him or others back to Cuba, so when we left, no one had been able to return.”
The medical team was replaced by another six- person team from the 75th Medical Group that left Hill Dec. 8.
Afterword
With the new initiative for expulsion of undocumented civilians from the United States, there is no guarantee that the situation will be any different from that in 1994. Certainly, medical teams have made significant strides in the 30 years that have elapsed since the boat people phenomenon, but the detainees still face similar issues: health, separation, the elements, dissident voices, and the reluctance of general opinion to give them the assurance that they are being treated fairly.
For the 1994 crisis, America cared about their plight. Maybe after a front row seat beyond newspapers and television, through the internet and social media, the suffering these people will be going through after all they had already done just to get to the United States, will allow the nation to show some more compassion.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.