Soldiers, Airmen work together to save lives

Photo By Sgt. Elizabeth Raney | U.S. Air Force Reserve personnel assess a simulated casualty in the field hospital on Young Army Air Field at Fort McCoy, Wis., June 15, during 2015 Global Medic. Global Medic is the premier medical field-training event during the 78th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise and is the only joint accredited exercise conceived, planned and executed by Army Reserve Soldiers. Service members from multiple DoD branches train together in a joint force environment, further strengthening their abilities to serve together around the globe. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Beth Raney, 363rd Public Affairs Detachment/Released)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

06.18.2015

Story by Sgt. Elizabeth Raney 

364th Theater Public Affairs Support Element

FORT MCCOY, Wis. - When injuries occur on the battlefield, medical staff is always on standby to receive patients and treat them in the most efficient way possible.

Oftentimes, multiple branches and specialties of our U.S. military work together to save the lives of their brothers and sisters in arms. This is the case during the 2015 Global Medic exercise at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, where Reserve Soldiers and Airmen on Young Army Air Field worked in tandem to provide expedient care to simulated casualties.

Global Medic, hosted by the Medical Readiness and Training Command, San Antonio, Texas, is the premier medical field-training event during the 78th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX), and the only joint accredited exercise conceived, planned and executed by Army Reserve Soldiers.

U.S. Army Reserve 1st. Lt. Nathan Shaffer, who is currently serving as a battle captain for 24-hour medical evacuation missions being run from the airfield, and other Soldiers from the 1-214th Aviation Regiment serve as the link between casualties and medical care.

“If there is a 9-Line that needs an air asset to go out, we send out a helicopter to pick up the patient,” Shaffer said.

From that call, a medical flight crew picks up the injured service member and delivers them to a field hospital.

U.S. Air Force Reserve Capt. Tammy Rush, a nurse with the 59th Aeromedical Safety Squadron out of Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, said the type of field hospital they are running on Young Army Air Field is just a stopping point for the wounded.

“Soldiers in the field, Marines in the field, Airmen in the field, they get hurt and they need to come through and they need to be treated accordingly,” Rush said. “Typically they are going to go to a hospital or a triage unit and then go to the hospital. They come to a receiving facility to receive treatment before transporting them up to their next level of care.”

U.S. Air Force Maj. John Redmon, of the 914th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, said this type of training is an important part of being ready for a real life situation.

“Today, we had a pretend patient come in off the helicopter, 30% burns,” Redmon explained. “We evaluated the situation and the patient and found out we needed to transfer him over to the forward surgical team. We had him over there probably within 10 minutes.”

While the training being conducted on the base is primarily simulated casualties, it’s important that Army and Air Force Reserve personnel can smoothly work together when seconds count and they are making important decisions to save a life.

• Date Taken: 06.18.2015
• Date Posted: 07.09.2015 23:54
• Story ID: 169595
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US