779th Medical Group hones skills as part of Vibrant Response 13

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Matt Scotten | Black Hawk helicopters from 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment perform medical evacuations and deliver simulated victims of a nuclear detonation to airmen from the 779th Medical Group for emergency hospital services in exercise Vibrant Response at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center in southern Indiana July 29. The exercise, hosted by U.S. Army North, U.S. Northern Command's Joint Force Land Component Command, brings together approximately 9,000 military and civilian personnel from across the country to simulate the response to a terrorist attack in the United States.  

EDINBURGH, IN, UNITED STATES

07.25.2012

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Matt Scotten 

Camp Atterbury Indiana

EDINBURGH, Ind. - Airmen from the 779th Medical Group, out of Andrews Air Force Base are participating in Vibrant Response 13, an U.S. Army North exercise July 25 - Aug. 13 at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center.

The exercise gives various military and civilian response forces the opportunity to train together in a homeland disaster scenario in order to allow responders to hone their skills so they can be better prepared in the case of a disaster on American soil.

Airmen from the 779th MDG contributed to the exercise by setting up an expeditionary medical support hospital to treat wounded survivors of a simulated nuclear detonation in a large, Midwestern-American city. They treated patients with symptoms ranging from broken bones and scrapes to radiation poisoning from exposure to the nuclear blast.

"We are here to provide to provide a level three capability to exercise, which means that we can provide surgical intervention and theater hospitalization," Maj. Lauren Byrd, EMEDS administrator, 779th Medical Group. "It's for patients that require more definitive care than what can be provided in the first aid stations."

The hospital tents used by the 779th MDG can take up to 72 hours to set up, but after arriving at Camp Atterbury, they immediately got to work and had their hospital set up in approximately half a day. However, that was just where the work began.

"They have really stressed out system and we are learning a lot about how many patients we can take at one time," said Byrd. "I would say our greatest challenge has been working out our patient flow process. So we have really had to solidify our processes and developing patient flow to help us treat the greatest amount of patients possible in the shortest amount of time."

The 779th MDG was not alone in the exercise so support was readily available.

Participating in the exercise were approximately 75 different units with various skill sets to include an army medical unit that was set up right next to the 779th. The two units were able to see each other's unique capabilities and learn from each other.

"I liked the way the Army mapped out their triage areas with tags. We don't typically do that and I felt like that was a really good way to cut back on the kind of confusion that can happen," said Maj. Francis Nichols, clinical nurse, 779th MDG. "They really hit us hard with a lot of patients, and the numbers went up pretty consistently each day of the exercise and so for us to be able to learn from each other was really important."

Col. Rudy Cachuela, lead Air Force observer controller trainer at the exercise, was in charge of validating training for the unit. He made sure the training was as realistic as possible by not only adding details to training scenarios that make them more realistic, but also by working with the unit leadership to coach them through how to react to the emotional stresses placed on their soldiers.

"One of the things I did was to inject scenarios where the patient had been injured so badly that try as they might, they will not be able to save that patient," said Cachuela. "It's a hard fact of life in a disaster situation, especially one that includes a nuclear blast in a metropolitan area, like our exercise's scenario includes."

Cachuela said that not only do airmen have to be able to deal with the fact that they may not be able to save everyone, but the command also needs to recognize the needs of their airmen. They need to know how to handle an airman that may have just lost a patient and know how to help them through it so that they can continue to be productive members of the team. Over all, Cachuela said, he has been impressed with the unit's performance throughout the exercise.

"These guys are doing great. One of the things I noticed was how they immediately combined forces with the Army unit out here and figured out how to work together and augment each other," said Cachuela. "I really love to see the enthusiasm that I am seeing out here and the willingness to work and get the job done. We always hope that we never have to really deploy a capability like this, but I feel like if a disaster happened and we did have to, these guys could do the job."

• Date Taken: 07.25.2012
• Date Posted: 08.05.2012 22:35
• Story ID: 92693
• Location: EDINBURGH, IN, US