BASSETERRE, St. Kitts and Nevis –
In military affairs, the definition of success is often driven by data: metrics that must be met, reports required up and down the chain of command, definitive documentation of mission accomplishment.
But as the Honorable Terrance M. Drew, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, pointed out during the closing ceremony for phase three of the Lesser Antilles Medical Assistance Team (LAMAT) 2025, “Progress is measured not only by policies, but by lives touched.”
One of the many lives touched during this global health engagement: a three-month-old child. When her father brought her to the emergency room at Alexandria Hospital on Nevis, the infant was unresponsive, struggling to breathe and barely had a pulse.
The Nevisian emergency room team, along with a contingent of U.S. Air Force medical professionals working alongside them as part of LAMAT 25, jumped into action.
Doctors decided to intubate the child, but still she went into cardiac arrest. 20 minutes of resuscitation attempts followed, with multiple team members pitching in. Suddenly, it seemed the fight was lost.
“At one point in the resuscitation, the code lead made the decision to call off the effort,” said Lt. Col. Lawrence Onyejekwe, a 349th Medical Squadron family physician and one of the doctors fighting to save the child. “It seemed the baby had passed, that further efforts would be futile.”
And as suddenly as hope seemed to fade, signs of life.
“While the entire team was crestfallen, the baby decided that she had other plans,” Onyejekwe said. “Her pulse returned, along with weak, but encouraging movements that indicated that she was still willing to fight.”
After that point, LAMAT 25 team members shifted from St. Kitts to Nevis to support the case. Maj. Ann Kronenwetter, a 433rd Medical Squadron pediatrician, and Maj. Mohammed Osman, a 433rd MDS neurocritical care physician, made the urgent journey from one island to the other, providing additional expertise.
“The events in the resuscitation bay were particularly unique,” Osman pointed out. “Having several medical professionals with different specialties put their minds together to help this incredibly young patient in dire need, along with the amazing and outstanding professional efforts of nurses and medical technicians, it was all a humbling experience.”
Reflecting on the intensity of the case later, Osman noted “medicine is the ultimate team sport. The best doctor in the world can’t do everything on their own. The best surgeon in the world cannot do everything on their own.”
Ultimately, the cooperation between the Nevisian and Air Force medical teams allowed the three-month-old an opportunity to receive a higher level of care. Thanks to the joint Nevisian-American team’s lifesaving efforts and the generous support of a medical charity, the child was airlifted out of the country to receive more specialized care.
During the St. Kitts and Nevis phase of LAMAT 25, more than 2,200 patients received treatment, 600-plus people underwent surgical and non-surgical interventions, thousands of hours of readiness training were accomplished, and Air Force medical professionals helped deliver a grand-total of at least $80,000 worth of care to the host nation’s populace.
Leaders from Air Forces Southern, Air Force Reserve Command, and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis celebrated these accomplishments and the tireless effort of those involved during the closing ceremony held April 4 held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort just outside the capital city of Basseterre.
“Military medical personnel are tasked with being ready to deploy anywhere in the world at a moment's notice to provide support in crisis or conflict,” said Col. Brian Gavitt, AFSOUTH command surgeon and one of the lead planners for LAMAT 25.
“LAMAT tests our ability to do that… It tests our ability to plan, move, organize, and deliver results,” Gavitt said. “It tests our adaptability and interoperability. It tests our teams by exposing them to diagnoses, conditions and equipment they aren't familiar with.”
As a global health engagement, LAMAT is designed to bolster Airman readiness through extensive patient care and training opportunities, all while enhancing host nation medical capabilities and building enduring partnerships through knowledge exchange and cooperation.
“LAMAT is critical to achieving and demonstrating our deployment readiness,” said Maj. Gen. Frank Bradfield III, AFRC deputy commander, who visited St. Kitts and Nevis to see first-hand the critical contribution of Citizen Airmen to the mission. Of the more than 60 Airmen supporting this phase of LAMAT 25, at least 48 were members assigned to AFRC units like the 433rd Medical Group.
“More importantly, the future measure of success lies in the enduring partnerships we have built here,” Bradfield added. “We have forged a powerful partnership rooted in mutual respect, shared knowledge, and the collective goal of improving health and wellbeing of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Illustrating those elements of partnership, respect, and exchange… another case involving a young life positively touched by LAMAT 25. At Joseph N. France General
Hospital in Basseterre, a 433rd MDS surgical team spent their two weeks on the mission embedded in the hospital operating room, working alongside Kittitian surgeons and surgical staff.
One of the more unique cases they fielded; a six-year-old boy who swallowed a coin which became lodged in his stomach. The 433rd MDS team not only supported the surgical staff but also provided additional experience and expertise which proved critical in the successful removal of the coin.
“The purpose of this mission is for our team to be strengthened when you are not here,” said Dr. Natalie Osborne, the Kittitian surgeon who performed the coin extraction. “Everything comes down to education when we are building these relationships. We do so much with the little we have… we appreciate and benefit a lot from these teams like LAMAT.”
Knowledge exchange is a pillar of the LAMAT missions. That exchange was happening not only in the hospitals and clinics, but also in other training settings including a joint U.S. Army, Air Force tactical combat casualty care class for Kittitian and Nevisian first responders, an advanced cardiac life support refresher course, and a lecture on the latest traumatic brain injury treatments.
The lessons Air Force personnel learned from carrying out this mission, and working alongside the host nation partners, were also a vital part of that knowledge exchange.
“Our contingency operations look a lot like what they do every day,” said Col. James “Matt” Bershinsky, 433rd Medical Group commander and LAMAT 25 commander. “The medical professionals down here, they have to figure out how to do these things in an environment we aren't used to working in, so we are learning as much from them as they are from us.”
The spirit of cooperation was evident throughout the mission.
Whether it was the audiology team, teaching local nurses how to assist with hearing aids, after fitting some 168 patients with new hearing aids, ensuring the service can continue even though there are no audiologists on the island.
Or the nutrition team, providing dietary counseling and education to hundreds of patients, and working with the staff who prepare meals for school children, all in an effort to combat the rate of diabetes on St. Kitts and Nevis.
Plus, a team of Air Force dentists and dental techs, who teamed up with local providers at a host of clinics across both islands to treat some 276 patients.
All these efforts showcase the success of LAMAT 25, which not only left Active Duty and Citizen Airmen better prepared to respond anytime, anywhere… but also left thousands of lives better off and the partnership between the United States and St. Kitts and Nevis stronger than ever.
Prime Minister Drew concluded the closing ceremony with a message of gratitude and an invitation.
“May a spirit of collaboration continue to ripple across our shores,” Drew said. “May it remind us that when we work in harmony, our possibilities are limitless.”
He added “To all who played a role in this mission… Thank you! Your hands healed, but your hearts inspire. On behalf of the government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis, we look forward to LAMAT 2026. We commit not only to welcoming you back, but to build upon the legacy we are creating together.”