Photo By Master Sgt. Gary Witte | A C-17 from Travis Air Force Base takes off from an airfield at Fort Hunter Liggett,...... read more read more
Subscribe
Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. – There are times when your emergency medical transport doesn’t just have wheels.
Soldiers with the 801st Combat Support Hospital practiced loading casualties onto a C-17 that landed on a dirt airstrip at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., March 19, 2013, as part of a multi-week training exercise. The Reserve unit, from Illinois and Indiana, worked with Air Force personnel to learn the process of handling wounded on the aircraft.
The aircraft from Travis Air Force Base landed in the afternoon on an unimproved airstrip near Schoonover Base Camp. Its jet engines blew dirt and dust across the area before coming to a halt. An ambulance loaded with people acting as wounded personnel slowly pulled up and soldiers followed standard procedures to load the aircraft.
U.S. Army Spc. Kasie N. Mumford of Anderson, Ind., a medic with the 801st CSH, said the training was both realistic and welcome, since the unit doesn’t often work with the Air Force.
“It was a great opportunity,” she said. “We’ve never gotten to experience anything like that.”
Mumford said the variances of equipment and prioritizing patients are also important to learn since the plane could be flying for 13 to 14 hours, compared to a shorter ambulance or helicopter ride.
“Your patient prepping is completely different than it would be [if they travel for] 15-20 minutes,” she said.
More than 30 soldiers took the class led by U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Angel Delacruz of Litchfield Park, Ariz., with the 146th Aeromedical Evacuation Squad from Channel Islands, Calif. He taught the soldiers airfield safety, the proper hand signals for approaching the aircraft and the location of medical gear aboard the plane.
“It’s beneficial,” he said. “It gives them an understanding of what they can see …The setup is different for us on the aircraft.”
Delacruz said the plane’s medical equipment includes everything that would be part of an emergency treatment “crash cart,” such as suction and sharps containers.
U.S. Army Col. Andre K. Artis of Dyer, Ind., commander of the hospital, said his facility is only able to stabilize and transport severely injured patients. The event helped build camaraderie with the Air Force personnel who would handle the transportation, he said.
During the rest of the afternoon, C-17s practiced takeoffs and landings on the short airstrip.
“That’s a beautiful sight,” Artis said. “These guys are up and down before you know it.”
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Timothy A. Strange of Indianapolis, a unit noncommissioned officer in charge of the emergency medical treatment section, said the unit held an after-action review with its staff and received positive feedback on the training.
“I think the one thing people wanted was more of it,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 03.19.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.01.2013 15:37 |
| Story ID: | 104422 |
| Location: | FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CA, US |
| Hometown: | ANDERSON, IN, US |
| Hometown: | DYER, IN, US |
| Hometown: | LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Warrior Exercise finds wings, by MSG Gary Witte, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT