Simulation Center provides combat medical training

Photo By Michael Maddox | Cpl. Cameron Sinnett, 219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, has to work in a smoke-filled, dark room as he evaluates casualties, portrayed by mannequins, as a part of the Combat Medic sustainment course at the Medical Simulation Training Center on Camp Atterbury March 24. Along with darkness and smoke, soldiers must also work in strobe lights and a recording of simulated battlefield noise.  

CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, UNITED STATES

03.25.2011

Story by Michael Maddox 

Camp Atterbury Indiana

CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANUEVER TRAINING CENTER – War fighting and injuries tend to go hand-in-hand, but the staff at Camp Atterbury’s Medical Simulation Training Center is providing the tools to make sure soldiers know just what to do if they are ever involved in a situation dealing with a combat-related medical emergency.

The MSTC was recently dedicated, and the facility is already training soldiers on medical skills using a wide variety of tools. From combat medic to combat lifesaver training, the MSTC is designed to keep American soldiers trained and ready to handle casualty situations.

Realism is the key to good training at the MSTC, said Staff Sgt. Ken Fodrie, technical oversight representative for the MSTC and medical operations NCO.

“I think one of the highlights of the MSTC are the validation rooms. We have four rooms where we are able to control the environment in addition to the patient simulators -- every aspect of patient care and the environment they give it in,” said Fodrie, whose military occupational specialty is 68W, combat medic. Fodrie said staff can also record everything to be used later for after action reviews.

Fodrie added, the validation rooms allow the instructors put the students in more realistic scenarios by taking themselves out of the situation.

“One of the limitations of conventional training is that the instructor has to be present, and we give them cues and we give them guidelines, so they may pay more attention to the instructor that they do the actual scenario. By removing the instructor from the environment, they have to pay more attention to the actual patient,” Fodrie said.

Fodrie said students at the MSTC can come from a variety of places.

“The MSTC’s primary focus is to train medical tasks. The core courses are 68W sustainment and also combat lifesaver,” he said. “We conduct other courses but all of the courses fall in line with Tactical Combat Casualty Care -- it’s all combat medicine oriented.”

“We’ll have some courses that are open enrollment -- we put it up on ATRRS (Army Training Requirements and Resources System) and anyone can sign up,” explained Fodrie. “So you get a good mix of units and out-of-state students mixed in with in-state, and then there’s also the availability for units to request a course. The 219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade just mobilized and we conducted a combat lifesaver’s course just for them.”

Spc. Michael Jones, a 215th Area Support Medical Company soldier and Koontz, Ind., native, said the training he received at the MSTC was invaluable.

“It’s good training. It’s good recall if you haven’t used your skills in a while and need some refresher training,” said the 20-year medical field veteran. “It’s also good because things change all of the time – six months ago CPR was done a different way than it is now – this stuff’s always changing.”

Jones added that the equipment at the MSTC makes the learning environment second to none.

“Some of the equipment here is stuff I’ve never seen before like the mannequins we’ve been using, they bleed, they breathe, they blink, they talk to you, it’s some of the best equipment I’ve seen,” said Jones.

The staff complements the equipment well, said Cpl. Cameron Sinnett, 219th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade.

“All of the instructors here are very knowledgable, experienced. They’ve been able to show us a lot of things we didn’t know and to fine tune some of the things we did know,” said Sinnett. “I liked that I could pick the individual instructors’ brains. Everyone has different experiences, shortcuts that you can learn from. I did pick up a few tricks of the trade that I’ve added to my arsenal.”

The MSTC has been training personnel for several weeks, but a ribbon cutting ceremony was held March 13. During the ceremony, Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck Center for Complex Operations Commanding General Brig. Gen. Omer C. Tooley, noted just how important the Center’s mission is in the mission of America’s fighting force.

“A lot of us who have been out there know there is no worse feeling than to be out somewhere far away from the lights, and you have casualties on the ground, there’s no doctor or there may not even be a medic there. If you don’t have the training, it can seem hopeless as some of your friends or civilians are bleeding out,” said Tooley. “This facility not only has a direct impact of preparing our folks to take care of themselves, but when you are out there by yourself and it’s all on you and someone else’s life is on your hands, you will have the basic skills set to do what needs to be done until you can get them back into the hands of the professionals.”

• Date Taken: 03.25.2011
• Date Posted: 03.25.2011 18:22
• Story ID: 67744
• Location: CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US