YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. — Soldiers with the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division were tested to provide medical aid under duress at the Yakima Training Center, March 28.
Soldiers from across the brigade have been training at YTC in preparation for a month-long deployment to the National Training Center, where they will certify as a globally available and regionally aligned force.
“It is important that we conduct this type of training so that we know what works best for us in plans for future operations,” said Sgt. 1st Class Sierra Rafael, 4-23 Inf.Bn. medical platoon sergeant.
This training event was designed for the Tomahawks of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4-23 Inf. Bn. medical team to enhance their proficiency in ground and air medical evacuation of wounded Soldiers.
The goal was to execute and improve battalion and brigade standard operating procedures, while building a foundation of combat-ready medics to deploy anywhere in the world.
“This training has helped us establish better communication amongst each other and steps to take in order to get the patient ready for medevac,” said Spc. Michael Hernandez, medic with HHC, 4-23 Inf. Bn.
Soldiers were given the opportunity to learn from trial and error while executing several tasks to ensure they had a clear understanding of their responsibilities.
According to the brigade SOP, the patients are to be placed in different levels of care, ranging from urgent to less severe. Each category is labeled and color-coded to identify the severity of each patient.
The categories are as follows:
Immediate- labeled red that indicates that the patient has 60 minutes to be evacuated to the next highest level of care.
Delay- labeled yellow that indicates that the patient has up to four hours for surgery, but whose general condition permits delay in surgical treatment without unduly endangering life.
Minimal-labeled green to indicate that the patient needs minimum amount of care and can effectively care for themselves or can be helped by non-medical personnel over a 24 hour period.
Expectant – labeled blue that indicated that the patient is killed in action or died of wounds.
Strykers, were used during the training to execute ground medevac procedures.
“This is a great vehicle to transport patients because of the amount of space we have inside to work,” said Hernandez.
The Tomahawk Battalion deployed approximately 25 Stryker vehicles to YTC March 17 and 18 with the help of the 62nd Airlift Wing and its fleet of C-17 Globemaster III transport aircrafts on JBLM.