Soldiers and Airmen train together during Critical Care Air Transport course. To increase interoperability, the Army Burn Flight Team has recently started cycling personnel through the Air Force’s CCAT course (Photo by: Army Lt. Col. (Dr. Alicia Williams).
Given that, Williams said that this is a good time to remind service members to keep safety in mind when using items like space heaters, grills, and propane tanks, as well as around fires.
"Pay attention to those holiday safety briefs because there actually is truth to them," said Williams.
Another element of what USAISR does is research, which is guided by what an individual is interested in. Williams said she appreciates the freedom and opportunities to collaborate with her colleagues.
"What's nice about the research we do here is that you can find something you like and design a research project around it or find someone who is already doing it and join in with them," said Williams. "Everybody is very collaborative. If you can't find a project, you can just send an email out or talk to someone about what you're interested in, and they'll likely know someone who is working on it."
Williams is working on developing an application to help train medical personnel who are going downrange in estimating the severity of burns.
"If you don't see burns all of the time, there's a tendency to over- or underestimate how severe they are," said Williams.
The app will use photos and charts to help medical personnel better estimate a burn's severity.
Although part of the Military Health System, USAISR sees a preponderance of civilian patients.
"Being able to take care of civilians is what keeps our clinical readiness up," said Williams. "The burn center has a special designation for working with civilians so that they can keep coming back here for their follow-up care."
This program includes things like base access and includes patients from all over Texas and beyond.
Williams said the most rewarding part of her job is seeing a patient recover from their injuries.
"There's a lot that goes into their recovery," said Williams. "Large burns are very labor-intensive. When you see a patient day after day, week after week, and watch their wounds heal, especially on a large burn, there's nothing better than seeing them completely healed. At the very end, you're looking at them and it's amazing.
Williams recounted a story of watching a patient standing up during rehabilitation, after not being able to walk for nearly a year. It caught her in the moment.
"I didn't realize how emotional that would make me," said Williams.
"I think that's the best part of being a surgeon in general, really," said Williams. "Something that you've intervened on, that you've worked on has really helped someone exponentially."