The experiences can help military leaders decide on the number and kinds of troops to deploy in case another pandemic or other world crises or conflicts happen, said General Glen VanHerck. He heads the U.S. Northern Command and is responsible for defense of the homeland.
格伦·范赫克将军表示,这些经验可以帮助美军领导人在部署部队的数量和种类方面做出决定,以防止另一场大流行、其它世界危机或是冲突的发生。他领导着美国北方司令部,负责保卫国土。
VanHerck told The Associated Press that his command is rewriting the military's current pandemic and infectious disease plans. Officials are also planning wargame exercises to test the abilities of U.S. military medical workers.
范赫克对美联社表示,北方司令部正在修改美军当前的流行病和传染病计划。官员们还计划进行兵棋推演,以测试美军医务人员的能力。
Of the 24,000 U.S. troops deployed, nearly 6,000 medical workers were sent to assist in hospitals. About 5,000 troops helped give vaccinations.
在部署的2.4万名美军中,有近6千名医务人员被派往医院协助。大约有5千名士兵协助接种疫苗。
VanHerck noted that the ways military forces were used in the pandemic "morphed" over time. He said one of the main things the military learned was that the work of small teams proved to be more valuable than mass movements of troops and facilities.
范赫克指出,随着时间推移,美军在大流行中的作用发生了变化。他说,美军学到的主要经验之一就是,小团队的工作被证明比部队和相关设施的大规模调动更有价值。
In the early days of the pandemic, the Defense Department sent hospital ships to New York City and Los Angeles. They also set up hospital operations in other states at the request of state leaders. The idea was to use the troops to treat non-COVID-19 patients so that hospitals could center on more serious pandemic cases.
在大流行初期,国防部向纽约市和洛杉矶市派遣了医疗船。他们还应州领导人的要求在其它州设立了医院。其目的是利用部队来治疗非新冠肺炎患者,以便地方医院可以集中处理更严重的大流行病例。
But while images of the military ships were powerful, many beds went unused. Fewer patients needed non-COVID-19 care than expected and hospitals were still overloaded by the pandemic. This led to changes in how military forces were deployed. Troops were sent to hospitals to fill in for overworked employees or to work alongside them in additional treatment areas.
但是虽然医疗船的画面非常强大,但是许多床位都没有使用。需要非新冠肺炎护理的患者少于预期,地方医院仍然因大流行而超负荷运行。这导致了美军部署方式发生变化。部队被派往医院替换过度劳累的员工,或是跟他们一起在新增的治疗区域工作。
Lieutenant Colonel Suzanne Cobleigh led an Army team that was deployed to two hospitals in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from December to February. She spoke to Associated Press reporters about one patient the team helped at a Michigan hospital as the Omicron version of COVID-19 was quickly spreading.
12月至2月,科布利·苏珊娜中校率领一支陆军团队被部署到密歇根州大急流城的两家医院。她向美联社记者讲述了该团队在密歇根州某医院帮助一名患者,当时新冠病毒的奥密克戎版本正在迅速传播。
The COVID-19 patient was having severe breathing difficulties, but Cobleigh said all patient beds at the hospital were full.
这名新冠肺炎患者呼吸困难,但是科布利表示该医院的所有床位都已满。
An Army nurse on her team knew of an open space in a temporary treatment area. The nurse quickly went into action, hurrying to get the patient wheeled to the area. During the process, the gurney struck a wall, damaging it a little.
她团队中的一名陆军护士知道临时治疗区有一块空地。该护士迅速行动起来,急忙将患者推往该区域。在此过程中,轮床撞到了一堵墙,对其造成了一点损坏。
When she saw what happened, Cobleigh praised the nurse's drive to help her patient.
当科布利看到发生的事情时,她称赞了这名护士帮助病人的努力。
"She's going to damage the wall on the way there because he's going to get that bed," Cobleigh said. "(The patient) is going to get the treatment he needs. That was the mission."
科布利表示:“她会在去的路上撞坏墙,是因为他会得到这个床位。病人将得到他所需要的治疗。这就是使命。”
The last military medical team deployed for the pandemic finished its assignment last week at the University of Utah hospital. But officials say about 200 troops are being held on prepare-to-deploy orders through the end of May in case COVID-19 infections rise again.
上周,为大流行部署的最后一支美军医疗团队在犹他大学医院完成了任务。但官员表示,大约有200名士兵会待命到5月底,以防新冠肺炎感染再次上升。