Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brad Mincey | South Carolina Army National Guard soldiers assisted Horry County civil authorities...... read more read more
CONWAY, S.C.— Moulage gashes, cuts, compound fractures and bleeding, along with the moans and wails of the simulated casualties, all added up to an intense training scenario for soldiers in the S.C. National Guard when they joined civil authorities during a mock commercial airliner crash exercise led by Horry County Emergency Operations, Feb. 1.
Throughout the exercise, police, medics and other first responders reacted to a variety of injuries suffered after a simulated airliner crashed on approach to Myrtle Beach International Airport. These mock casualties then had to be inspected, assessed and triaged. To make these injuries more realistic, several citizens from Horry County used makeup, prosthetics and other moulage techniques to simulate realistic injuries.
“We hope that we never have an airplane crash,” said Rick Lab, with the Human Resources Department in Horry County. “But just like a firefighter trains to fight fires with the hopes of never having to go to one, we want to train for any possibility. We want to train as realistically as possible. It makes a big difference when you see someone with a pipe sticking out of their stomach, you know they can not walk themselves to triage. The realism we can add to the training changes how the injured act and how those responding react.”
To ensure readiness and synergize the relationships of the S.C. National Guard and first responders, conducting training with civil authorities in areas around the state in a variety of exercise scenarios, such as during a plane crash, is critical.
“In today’s world, tragic accidents occur, such as the one simulated in this exercise and they must be responded to quickly and in coordination with many agencies,” said Maj. Gen. Robert E. Livingston, the adjutant general of South Carolina. “The exercise validates our life saving procedures and identifies an area for improvement so that is we are faced with a sudden and devastating event like this, we can carry out our mission and safeguard our citizens.”
This particular exercise teamed military police, engineers, water purifying teams and many other support units with civilian emergency responders, police, firemen as well as the Red Cross and the State Guard.
They were spread across Horry County reacting to different scenarios and responding to different emergencies, which focused on a commercial airliner that crashed southwest of Myrtle Beach Airport. And while one group was looking for survivors at the crash and triaging the injured, another group was conducting bridging exercises to span a river. All of this training ensures the Guard and other groups are ready to react to any situation and provide support for the citizens they serve.
The recent cold-weather snap South Carolina citizens experienced was a prime example of the types of situations where the South Carolina National Guard and local and state elements work together to assist the populace. Throughout the year, these groups have worked together to prepare for the eventuality of assisting motorists stuck on the highway, help rebuild after a hurricane or assist during another disaster.
Several days prior to the Palmetto Thunder, Lab and two other colleagues created cards for each person who was going to be injured. These cards described injuries that ranged from minor to major to deceased. The victims had to play the role given them, and the medics and other responders had to look at them, assess what was wrong and triage those involved in the crash.
Rather than just having a card to read that said, “this person has a laceration on the forehead,” the medics could actually see what was wrong because of the moulage work done by the makeup effects team.
“When we do this, it makes the training more realistic,” said Frank Russell, Horry County Procurement Office, who has been doing special effects makeup since he was a teenager. “And it gives them a better idea of situations that they might encounter.”
Although this was his first time being involved in creating injures with special effects makeup with the county, Russell is already looking forward to the next exercise.
“Horry County has a very active Emergency Operations Center [EOC] program and we constantly improve the processes and procedures,” said Russell.
Although some of the volunteers have had some experience with special effects makeup, Russell has loved and crafted his skill since childhood. His interest in special effects began when he and a group of friends began working in a magic shop, which was the only place he could find the materials he needed to create the special effects.
“Our group was kind of like the guys on the TV show Big Bang Theory,” said Russell. “We were into movies, costumes, special effects and comics. Back in the 80s, there weren’t many costume shops in the area except for the magic shop where we worked on the boulevard, so we were kind of at the forefront of special effects in this area.”
Though they didn’t have TV shows like “Face Off” or websites like “YouTube” to guide and influence them as the youth of today have, like many children of the 70s and 80s certain cultural elements provided the inspiration and direction they needed.
“We were there in the beginning and were influenced by the things we saw in movies like ‘Star Wars’,” Russell said. “And then there was ‘An American Werewolf in London’ where you had a guy transform from a man to a wolf using latex appliances. We got to see that and those things really influenced us.”
According to Russell, what keeps him involved with creating special effects is that he has never grown up.
“I really like the behind the scenes stuff,” said Russell. “I am fascinated by how things are done and how they are made.”
In addition to those who spend months in the planning and preparations of these exercises, it’s the behind-the-scenes people that help make the training and interactions between the Guard and state authorities so successful and realistic.
“I think it went really well this time,” said Russell. “I would have liked the weather to have been better and to have had a little more time to put the prosthetics on. But we took care of nearly 30 people in about two hours.”
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 02.04.2014 16:24 |
| Story ID: | 120097 |
| Location: | CONWAY, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Behind the scenes support makes Palmetto Thunder more realistic, by SFC Brad Mincey, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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