O'BOOT
09-24-2009, 13:28
Remembering Cpl. Josh Harmon
Army Maj. (Dr.) Robert Oh recently sent an e-mail to the wife and mother of Cpl. Josh Harmon, a combat medic who died on August 22, 2007 in a helicopter crash in Iraq. Maj. Oh was the PROFIS Battalion Surgeon for 2-35 Infantry Battalion ("Cacti"), 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, from July 2006 to Oct. 2007.
Harmon’s wife, Kristin, mother, Donna, and Maj. Oh, allowed us to share the e-mail -- a story that describes some of Harmon’s endearing qualities:
We were in the midst of major vaccinations for our troops. We were giving flu shots to our approximately 800 guys in the battalion. Josh, as always wanted to do his best for his scout platoon and wanted to give his boys the shots himself. His curiosity, of course, couldn't help him from asking a zillion questions. Sometimes it was annoying, especially when it was busy, but in the end, I really admired and respected his curiosity and thirst for learning. Anything to further his quest in being the best medic he could be and to take care of his troops.
It was during this time he asked if he could be the one giving all the shots for his Scout platoon. Of course, this is what we encouraged, to do everything he can for his Scouts – including routine vaccinations. I suspected he didn't know the indications and contraindications of the flu vaccine, and so I quizzed him. He knew quite a bit but didn't know the most serious complication of influenza vaccine: the potential for Guillane-Barre syndrome. This is a rare, neurologic disease that may be precipitated by the vaccine. I think it is so rare, there are less than 1 in 1 million cases associated with the vaccine. Anyway, I threw it out there, because it's a known complication and an absolute contraindication to the vaccine, and I also threw it out there because I was being a smart-a** and showing him that he didn't know everything. (Because in all reality, Josh knew a lot already, it was hard to teach him something new).
Months go by and we were all finished with the flu vaccinations for the battalion. It was a hot Iraq day, I remember walking over to the bus stop near our aid station, waiting for the bus to go to the "light side,” the other side of post. I ran into Josh and the Scout interpreter. Before this encounter, Josh had been prodding me about this
interpreter's kid. Apparently, he got very sick recently and had difficulty walking. He was, I think, 15 or 18 months old and previously was very, very healthy. One day he started having difficulty walking and then had, over the course of the months, developed increasing difficulty to walk and couldn't anymore. Josh, having daily conversations with his interpreter, of course naturally felt compassion for this kid. However, our rules of medical care said that we couldn't see any Iraqi kids at all. There were exceptions, of course, but overall there really wasn't an opportunity to see him. I'll leave it at that, since the rest of the explanation is a completely unnecessary to the story. Just to say that we couldn't see the child at our facilities.
So, I run into Josh and the interpreter, and of course, Josh introduced me to him and then asked if I could listen to his story of his child. Sitting and waiting at a hot bus stop with nothing else to do, I said of course I would. He proceeded to tell me the story of his child, who is now unable to walk at this point. He had seen numerous Iraqi doctors and was told that there was nothing they could do about it. Josh, his mind whirling, was so excited and his enthusiasm overflowed when he was relaying what he was thinking this was. Apparently, he had been reading constantly trying to figure out and solve this mystery in order to help his friend and to feed his intellectual hunger. He fired off question after question to me.
Finally, he asked, "Do you think it's the vaccine?” The interpreter noted that it got worse after his routine child vaccinations. I told Josh it’s possible, especially if he got the Polio vaccine. Oral polio vaccine can rarely cause polio in children and I suggested that unfortunately, it is likely that his child had polio. After about a 10 minute discussion, we
caught the bus and I thought that was the last of it.
More time goes by, not sure how long, but probably no more than a few weeks. I run into Josh and he asks me, if his interpreter's son could have Guillan-Barre syndrome, like I taught him months ago with the flu vaccination drive. I thought about it and pondered, and although Guillan-Barre can happen with any vaccination, but that I've never seen it in children. I told Josh I still thought it was polio and left it at that.
Anyway, weeks go by, and Josh runs up to me and in his crazy, ADHD state, says, "He's got Guillan-Barre!” I, of course, had no idea what he was talking about, but eventually I figured out that he was talking about his interpreter's kid. He told me that he really thought after reading about Guillan-Barre that it was more consistent with that as opposed to polio. He told his interpreter that his diagnosis for his child was Guillan-Barre and asked to bring his child to the top child neurologist in Iraq to get a second opinion. After the interpreter did that, he confirmed to Josh that his child was diagnosed with Guillan-Barre syndrome from the polio vaccination! With the diagnosis firm in hand, the child started receiving physical therapy and rehabilitation and eventually was walking and back to normal in a matter of months!
As you can see, Josh really was the one that diagnosed this child appropriately. I was stunned that he remembered about Guillan-Barre despite me only briefly mentioning it to him months before. Looking back, I remember he started reading about Guillan-Barre after our conversation, because he was disappointed in himself that he didn't know about it already. Secondly, it really shows that Josh was really so bright, that he was able to make the right diagnosis despite previous Iraqi doctors and myself making a wrong diagnosis. This really is remarkable as he was able to gather a history, read about illnesses, both polio, the vaccine and Guillan-Barre and then correlate that to all the different diagnosis the child was given, and then narrow it down to a completely unthought-of disease process that fit the picture. Basically, his deductive and intuitive problem-solving skills really stood out and tells me that Josh was uniquely
gifted in that sense. I know he would have done very well as a doctor.
But, bottom line, it wasn't the expert diagnosis that Josh made that made him beam with excitement and bubble over with enthusiasm that day when he told me about the child's diagnosis of Guillan-Barre syndrome. It was the fact that he made a difference in the child's life, and that he made such an impact in the interpreter's life. In battle briefs with the command, there is always talk about winning the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people. The idea is that the more we invest and demonstrate that we care about them as individuals, as people and as a nation, the more that they will trust that we are here to help them regain and rebuild their society to a fully democratic state. In this example, Josh did that and exemplified the caring and love for his "troops", which included the interpreter and his family. The interpreter was forever grateful, his child was walking and it was a large part due to Josh. If the war can be won one Iraqi at a time, Josh made a huge and everlasting dent in the fight for Iraq's independence. And, isn't that why we were there in the first place?
God bless Jonnie, God bless the troops. He will always be remembered.
Maj. Oh is now the program director of family medicine at Tripler Army Medical Center.
http://www.health.mil/Press/Release.aspx?ID=940
Army Maj. (Dr.) Robert Oh recently sent an e-mail to the wife and mother of Cpl. Josh Harmon, a combat medic who died on August 22, 2007 in a helicopter crash in Iraq. Maj. Oh was the PROFIS Battalion Surgeon for 2-35 Infantry Battalion ("Cacti"), 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, from July 2006 to Oct. 2007.
Harmon’s wife, Kristin, mother, Donna, and Maj. Oh, allowed us to share the e-mail -- a story that describes some of Harmon’s endearing qualities:
We were in the midst of major vaccinations for our troops. We were giving flu shots to our approximately 800 guys in the battalion. Josh, as always wanted to do his best for his scout platoon and wanted to give his boys the shots himself. His curiosity, of course, couldn't help him from asking a zillion questions. Sometimes it was annoying, especially when it was busy, but in the end, I really admired and respected his curiosity and thirst for learning. Anything to further his quest in being the best medic he could be and to take care of his troops.
It was during this time he asked if he could be the one giving all the shots for his Scout platoon. Of course, this is what we encouraged, to do everything he can for his Scouts – including routine vaccinations. I suspected he didn't know the indications and contraindications of the flu vaccine, and so I quizzed him. He knew quite a bit but didn't know the most serious complication of influenza vaccine: the potential for Guillane-Barre syndrome. This is a rare, neurologic disease that may be precipitated by the vaccine. I think it is so rare, there are less than 1 in 1 million cases associated with the vaccine. Anyway, I threw it out there, because it's a known complication and an absolute contraindication to the vaccine, and I also threw it out there because I was being a smart-a** and showing him that he didn't know everything. (Because in all reality, Josh knew a lot already, it was hard to teach him something new).
Months go by and we were all finished with the flu vaccinations for the battalion. It was a hot Iraq day, I remember walking over to the bus stop near our aid station, waiting for the bus to go to the "light side,” the other side of post. I ran into Josh and the Scout interpreter. Before this encounter, Josh had been prodding me about this
interpreter's kid. Apparently, he got very sick recently and had difficulty walking. He was, I think, 15 or 18 months old and previously was very, very healthy. One day he started having difficulty walking and then had, over the course of the months, developed increasing difficulty to walk and couldn't anymore. Josh, having daily conversations with his interpreter, of course naturally felt compassion for this kid. However, our rules of medical care said that we couldn't see any Iraqi kids at all. There were exceptions, of course, but overall there really wasn't an opportunity to see him. I'll leave it at that, since the rest of the explanation is a completely unnecessary to the story. Just to say that we couldn't see the child at our facilities.
So, I run into Josh and the interpreter, and of course, Josh introduced me to him and then asked if I could listen to his story of his child. Sitting and waiting at a hot bus stop with nothing else to do, I said of course I would. He proceeded to tell me the story of his child, who is now unable to walk at this point. He had seen numerous Iraqi doctors and was told that there was nothing they could do about it. Josh, his mind whirling, was so excited and his enthusiasm overflowed when he was relaying what he was thinking this was. Apparently, he had been reading constantly trying to figure out and solve this mystery in order to help his friend and to feed his intellectual hunger. He fired off question after question to me.
Finally, he asked, "Do you think it's the vaccine?” The interpreter noted that it got worse after his routine child vaccinations. I told Josh it’s possible, especially if he got the Polio vaccine. Oral polio vaccine can rarely cause polio in children and I suggested that unfortunately, it is likely that his child had polio. After about a 10 minute discussion, we
caught the bus and I thought that was the last of it.
More time goes by, not sure how long, but probably no more than a few weeks. I run into Josh and he asks me, if his interpreter's son could have Guillan-Barre syndrome, like I taught him months ago with the flu vaccination drive. I thought about it and pondered, and although Guillan-Barre can happen with any vaccination, but that I've never seen it in children. I told Josh I still thought it was polio and left it at that.
Anyway, weeks go by, and Josh runs up to me and in his crazy, ADHD state, says, "He's got Guillan-Barre!” I, of course, had no idea what he was talking about, but eventually I figured out that he was talking about his interpreter's kid. He told me that he really thought after reading about Guillan-Barre that it was more consistent with that as opposed to polio. He told his interpreter that his diagnosis for his child was Guillan-Barre and asked to bring his child to the top child neurologist in Iraq to get a second opinion. After the interpreter did that, he confirmed to Josh that his child was diagnosed with Guillan-Barre syndrome from the polio vaccination! With the diagnosis firm in hand, the child started receiving physical therapy and rehabilitation and eventually was walking and back to normal in a matter of months!
As you can see, Josh really was the one that diagnosed this child appropriately. I was stunned that he remembered about Guillan-Barre despite me only briefly mentioning it to him months before. Looking back, I remember he started reading about Guillan-Barre after our conversation, because he was disappointed in himself that he didn't know about it already. Secondly, it really shows that Josh was really so bright, that he was able to make the right diagnosis despite previous Iraqi doctors and myself making a wrong diagnosis. This really is remarkable as he was able to gather a history, read about illnesses, both polio, the vaccine and Guillan-Barre and then correlate that to all the different diagnosis the child was given, and then narrow it down to a completely unthought-of disease process that fit the picture. Basically, his deductive and intuitive problem-solving skills really stood out and tells me that Josh was uniquely
gifted in that sense. I know he would have done very well as a doctor.
But, bottom line, it wasn't the expert diagnosis that Josh made that made him beam with excitement and bubble over with enthusiasm that day when he told me about the child's diagnosis of Guillan-Barre syndrome. It was the fact that he made a difference in the child's life, and that he made such an impact in the interpreter's life. In battle briefs with the command, there is always talk about winning the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people. The idea is that the more we invest and demonstrate that we care about them as individuals, as people and as a nation, the more that they will trust that we are here to help them regain and rebuild their society to a fully democratic state. In this example, Josh did that and exemplified the caring and love for his "troops", which included the interpreter and his family. The interpreter was forever grateful, his child was walking and it was a large part due to Josh. If the war can be won one Iraqi at a time, Josh made a huge and everlasting dent in the fight for Iraq's independence. And, isn't that why we were there in the first place?
God bless Jonnie, God bless the troops. He will always be remembered.
Maj. Oh is now the program director of family medicine at Tripler Army Medical Center.
http://www.health.mil/Press/Release.aspx?ID=940