Photo By Tech. Sgt. Michael Ellis | Maj. Christopher Synder, general surgeon and student in the Emergency War Surgery...... read more read more
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas - Surgeons and nurses from the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy underwent a three-day training course at the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center to prepare for the various perils they may face in a deployed environment, Feb. 10-12, 2015.
The Emergency War Surgery Course has been conducted at Wilford Hall since it was established back in 2004. Currently, Wilford Hall is the only location that hosts the course, which is mandatory for general or orthopedic surgeons and is optional for nurses.
"The purpose of the Emergency War Surgery Course is to give deploying surgeons some of the basic trauma skills they will need when they deploy downrange," said U.S. Army Col. (Dr.) John Garr, commander of the Defense Medical Readiness Training Institute.
Sherrilee Demmer, 59th Medical Wing Trauma Education and Injury Prevention coordinator, explained how the Emergency War Surgery Course was formulated.
"The Department of Health Affairs formed a combat surgery committee composed of members from all the branches of service to decide on what deploying members needed to know," said Demmer.
Trauma coordinators from all services went to forward operating bases in theater to collect data," Demmer said. "They then attended the Emergency War Surgery Course and started making performance improvements based on the data."
Although surgeons are required to attend the courses within two years of a deployment, the course is optional but highly recommended for nurses. Feedback has shown that there are substantial differences in the readiness and capabilities for nurses who attend the course.
"Early on we were hearing from people downrange that it was sometimes taking six weeks for the nurses to get up to speed," said Demmer. "The nurse that comes through this course is way up to speed compared to the nurse who does not."
Another benefit of having a single tri-service course with standardized curriculum is the opportunity to explain how each service differs in a deployed environment. Students received instruction on medical joint operations and ways in which they could better assist each other, which will ultimately increase patient care.
"It is important to have specialized training because the types of situations, patients and injuries these surgeons and nurses will encounter are much different from those seen in the civilian sector," said Garr.
"In the end it's all about the wounded troop," Demmer said. "From the beginning, the focus of the course was to provide doctors and nurses with the best training possible so they can take care of the patient; that remains our focus today.
| Date Taken: | 02.20.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.20.2015 13:17 |
| Story ID: | 155016 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 196 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Multi-service life-saving training course prepares medics for combat operations, by TSgt Michael Ellis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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