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    Bondsteel Soldiers train for Expert Field Medical Badge

    Bondsteel Soldiers train for Expert Field Medical Badge

    Photo By Sgt. Cody Barber | Capt. Ashley Bradley, a nurse with the 61st Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 1st...... read more read more

    CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO

    08.19.2014

    Story by Sgt. Cody Barber 

    KFOR Regional Command East

    CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - Practice makes perfect, and for six Multinational Battle Group-East (MNBG-E) Soldiers, they will need all the practice they can get for one of the most rigorous tests military medical professionals can endure.

    MNBG-E Soldiers participated in a full-scale training event for the U.S. Army’s Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB) at Camp Bondsteel, Aug. 9-10, before heading to Grafenwoehr, Germany, to experience the real event.

    The EFMB is a badge of distinction for medical personnel, and the test has a slim passing rate. Capt. Ashley Bradley, a nurse with the 61st Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 1st Medical Brigade, hopes going through this training beforehand will prepare her for what lies ahead.

    “This train-up before the real thing is very beneficial because it has helped me identify some of my weaknesses,” Bradley said. “Some of things I thought I could just jump out there and do, but that’s not the case.”

    On the first day, Soldiers conducted a day and night land navigation course, treated and extracted casualties from a vehicle, reacted to direct and indirect fire and called in an aerial medical evacuation.

    The second day continued to test their mental and physical skills, with a written test and a full lane of simulated casualties with various injuries, each of which had to be treated and evacuated within a certain time limit.

    “For a lot of the candidates it’s their first time going through the EFMB,” said Staff Sgt. Erik Serrato, a preventive medicine specialist with MNBG-E and an EFMB badge holder. “We wanted to give them a realistic feel of how the lanes are going to be in Germany.”

    “The lanes were set up to EFMB standards and are to test against each task,” the Santa Rosa, Texas, native added. “We wanted to test them under pressure and test their knowledge.”

    Bradley said it is a privilege to have an opportunity to earn the badge, and she said she can’t wait to get to Germany to give it a try.

    “I think the badge is a very prestigious thing to earn, especially in my field of work,” said Bradley. “It’s a great accomplishment to earn because it’s hard.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 08.19.2014
    Date Posted: 08.19.2014 03:46
    Story ID: 139742
    Location: CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ
    Hometown: SANTA ROSA, TX, US

    Web Views: 92
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN