Photo By Tech. Sgt. Maeson Elleman | Dante Pineda, an emergency room nurse from Medical City Clark, Philippines, checks the...... read more read more
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CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines - For the first time in Exercise Balikatan’s 31 years, local Philippine medical professionals partnered with the U.S. military to exercise the medical evacuation of patients directly to Medical City Clark, a newly constructed hospital in the area.
The training occurred April 18, just two days before the official start of this years’ Exercise Balikatan, and helped to test medical reception and treatment procedures at the local medical facility. Additionally, the training scenario helped to prepare U.S. military and Philippine civilian medical personnel to handle advanced patient transport.
“It was really quite fun in the sense that it wasn’t real, nobody was hurt; we were just practicing,” said Dr. Kayleen Bautista. “[Eventually there may be] patients like those we received during the exercise. It was a good experience for us.”
U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dean Goad, Joint Exercise Support Group medical planner for BK15, said the scenario benefited the U.S. military participants and afforded them experiences they’ve never had in the Philippines before.
“It’s a capability that we haven’t had before,” Goad said. “We’ve got the Army and their medical evacuation birds [helicopters] here conducting bilateral training, and we’ve got this brand new facility at Clark – Medical City Clark – that has a huge area for landing helicopters. That offers us the opportunity to rehearse casualty evacuation and medical evacuation with the hospital there. It’s an opportunity we have not had the chance to work through before.”
Though Balikatan 2015 didn’t officially kick off until April 20, different components from both the U.S. military and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have been working feverishly behind the scenes to ensure mission success by providing ample training opportunities and nailing down procedures.
This medical evacuation provided local Philippine civilian emergency room personnel a chance to practice all the different components of receiving patients from a military helicopter.
“We simulated even the smallest details – who’s going to call the doctor, who’s transporting them and everything,” Dr. Charlanne Labande, Medical City Clark surgery hospitalist who has been in the surgical field for roughly six years. “If you don’t do it and just rely on an actual scenario, then it will be difficult. The tiny details of each operation should be practiced.”
During the training, a U.S. Army UH-60Q Black Hawk equipped to transport injured personnel flew three simulated patients from a U.S. shock trauma platoon to the civilian medical facility.
Goad, who is stationed at U.S. Marine Corps Camp Courtney, Okinawa, with the 3rd Marine Division, said limitations have always prevented similar training in the past.
“Before, the hospitals’ helicopter pads were too small to accept military aircraft so we had to fly them into an airport before transporting the simulated patients via ground ambulance to a hospital. We’ve moved patients on the island via air before, but we were never able to land directly at the hospital and take the patients out of the back,” Goad said.
Moreover, Goad pointed out the casualty evacuation training scenario was mutually beneficial to both U.S. and Filipino exercise participants on a large scale.
“It’s important not only for us, but for the hospital,” Goad said. “For the military, it’s important to rehearse the movement of casualties. For the local hospital, it’s also important for them to get to rehearse receiving patients from a helicopter and processing them through their emergency room.”
“It gives them an opportunity to exercise drills they should be working on as well,” Goad continued. “It’s a win-win situation.”
Balikatan 2015 will continue through April 30 and will incorporate other bilateral training opportunities for Filipino and U.S. service members.
| Date Taken: | 04.18.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2015 03:07 |
| Story ID: | 161293 |
| Location: | CLARK AIR BASE, PH |
| Web Views: | 145 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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