Photo By Sgt. Scott Tynes | Cadet Rachel Daene, of Vicksburg, Miss., a treatment center team leader with Company...... read more read more
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CAMP SHELBY, Miss. – It’s not "M.A.S.H." It’s Charlie Med.
Company C, 106th Support Battalion, 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, affectionately known by Mississippi Army National Guard Soldiers as Charlie Med, will cure what ails a Soldier to get them back in the fight or stabilize severe injuries for more intensive treatment behind the front lines.
Like "M.A.S.H.," the Soldiers of Charlie Med take their jobs seriously, but without the zaniness that made the show about a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean Conflict a popular comedy series from 1972 to 1983.
“There are some similarities in that it’s supposed to be as far forward as possible, but we’re made to move. We can set up in two hours and can start receiving patients,” said Maj. Susan Horvath, company commander.
“We support the brigade. We follow them in their maneuvers so everything we have is mobile,” the Marshfield, Wisconsin, resident said. “Unlike a hospital where everything is fixed, we will move as the mission dictates. So all of our equipment is smaller, it’s lighter and we have a little bit less than what the M.A.S.H. has. There are no operating rooms, no big, huge patient administration section. That comes if we get a forward surgical team.”
The addition of a FST, however, changes the scope of operations because it entails more doctors, surgical equipment and augmentations to the recovery area. Those additions make the company less mobile.
“It’s a pretty neat concept because we have some of the things you would find in a hospital, but its in mobile form,” she said.
The Troop Medical Clinic serves as a bridge between the combat medics embedded with the individual companies and the Combat Support Hospital, a fixed position housed in tents in a rear area with all the amenities of a civilian hospital.
“It’s not new, but a TMC is unique to only a few brigades in the nation,” Horvath said. “Most (major subordinate commands) do not have a Charlie Med. It’s got to be part of a larger brigade combat team and usually a combined arms team. They have battalion aid stations with a doctor or (physician assistant) and some medical personnel, but they won’t have the same type of ancillary care. And that’s what makes us different. It’s the fact that we have that (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) component and the fact that we have a lab, dental and X-ray. We’re one of the few in the country. It makes us very unique and very resilient.”
Charlie Med is able to demonstrate that special capability during an Exportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC) exercise at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center this month.
“This is the first time we’ve set up a functional X-ray and lab here in the field,” Horvath said. “It’s about the quality of a portable X-ray in a hospital, so we can do anything from a chest X-ray, to fingers, ankles, or hands. That will help us diagnose and let us know if we need to send someone up (to a better equipped facility) or hold onto them.”
The capability to make that determination in the field has “reduced a great number of our medical evacuations to a higher level of care” and saved taxpayers a significant amount of money, Horvath said.
“It helps us from using the resources outside that would cost us a lot of money. It’s very expensive to send a Soldier to a hospital. So anything we can take care of out here, we do,” said Cadet Rachel Daene, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and a treatment center team leader.
During the XCTC, those Soldiers include not only members of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, but also active-duty Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, an element of the Fort Hood-based 1st Cavalry Division and Reserve components. In total, more than 4,600 Soldiers are partnering with Mississippi Guardsmen for the brigade field-training exercise, which will test the 155th's ability to perform platoon movements, company attacks, response to ambushes, and more.
“In the XCTC, we will take on patients almost as if we were in the battle,” Horvath said. “That means almost all of the patients should be coming through Charlie Med, because very few of them would be required to be evacuated straight to (a hospital).”
Charlie Med has seen its share of typical training injuries, such as heat casualties and twisted ankles, but it excels in providing ancillary services a Soldier would normally only see in a standard hospital.
The unit holds a sick call in the morning and evening as well as receiving patients trickling in throughout the day that have more immediate injuries.
“This really gets us ready. We have to set this up. We have to be capable of running this on a daily basis. And we have to be willing and able to treat a multitude of injuries and illnesses,” said Spc. Alexander Garvey, of Petal, Mississippi, and a combat medic.
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2015 18:51 |
| Story ID: | 171838 |
| Location: | CAMP SHELBY, MS, US |
| Web Views: | 453 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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