TODAY, 7 May 2012
We refer to Dr Yeo Seow Woon's letter, "A misperception of BMT recruits?" (April 30).
We refer to Dr Yeo Seow Woon's letter, "A misperception of BMT recruits?" (April 30).
All National Servicemen, including recruits undergoing training at the Basic Military Training (BMT) Centre, have ready access to medical attention.
Our investigation and records show that Dr Yeo's son was not denied access to medical attention. The encounter mentioned by Dr Yeo was a routine self-administered medical screening questionnaire to identify recruits with new or recent medical problems before they could proceed to the next phase of training. Recruits who answered "no" to all the questions would not need to see the Medical Officer for a medical evaluation. Dr Yeo's son was initially unsure about one question in the questionnaire, but after clarification with the medic, he answered "no" to all the questions. The serviceman had misunderstood the clarification as him being denied access to the Medical Officer.
Dr Yeo also mentioned that her son had coughing fits and an asthma attack and was not allowed to see the Medical Officer. This is inaccurate. There are no records of the serviceman having reported sick at the medical centre or indicating that he had wanted to report sick to his company instructors throughout his BMT. On clarification with the serviceman, he confirmed that he had not reported the onset of his new medical conditions to his commanders or Medical Officer as he had wanted to complete his BMT.
We would also like to clarify that the "tekong cough" is a myth. While the increased physical stress may affect an individual's susceptibility to respiratory infections, the SAF's on-going active respiratory disease surveillance does not show an increased incidence of respiratory infections in our recruits. There are also preventive measures in place to mitigate the transmission of respiratory infections. More information on this topic could be found on NS Portal (iPrepNS) at www.ns.sg
We would like to assure Dr Yeo that our Medical Officers and medics treat every serviceman with respect and empathy and our mission is to ensure that all servicemen who need medical attention receive the appropriate care and treatment before they are allowed to resume their military training.
For medical confidentiality reasons, we have contacted Dr Yeo and her son directly to clarify these issues. The Ministry of Defence and the Singapore Armed Forces are committed to look after the health and well-being of our soldiers.
A misperception of BMT recruits?
Letter from Dr Yeo Seow Woon
TODAY, 30 Apr 2012
My son completed his Basic Military Training last month. He suffered from childhood asthma but has been free of attacks since age 14. He was labelled Physical Employment Status B because of colour blindness.
Two weeks into his BMT training at Pulau Tekong, he started to have coughing fits, especially at night. When he wanted to see the camp doctor, the medic refused him because it was just a "Tekong cough".
One Saturday night, he had an asthmatic attack at home. My son booked in the next evening with a letter from me to inform the camp's Medical Officer about the episode and to raise awareness of the possibility of further attacks.
Again, the medic refused to allow him to see the camp MO. Fortunately, my son completed his BMT unscathed.
I fail to understand why medics can refuse to allow a recruit to see the camp MO and why, when a recruit reports sick, he is deemed to be malingering until proven otherwise, and not vice versa.
Also, after an asthmatic attack, why is a recruit not allowed to rest but must resume training immediately? Not all coughs are "Tekong coughs". Coughing fits are a recognised variant of asthma.
These (mis)perceptions of recruits should be corrected, so that there would be no more morbidity and mortality when our sons/brothers serve the nation.
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