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“The exercise was a duress situation at mental health,” said Senior Airman Allen Nelson, 673d Security Forces Squadron standardization and evaluation evaluator. “If somebody comes in there and is getting angry, getting mad, maybe they want to hurt somebody and they have a weapon on them. It can happen.”
The well-being of the members of the 673d Medical Group as well as its patients is why the group exists in the first place and exercises like this allow leadership to establish that safety, not just in a medical appointment, but in the entire workplace.
“[Usually, Summer is permanent change of station season,] so we’re seeing a lot of new technicians and officers,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Brayden Van Bever, a mental health technician with the 673d Medical Group, Mental Health Flight. “I’m sure security forces have their own comings and goings as well.
“We want to get people as trained up as possible.”
The exercise began much like one would expect it to in reality. An Airman showed up to a routine mental health appointment and began to show signs of duress.
The situation escalated quickly from uncomfortable to dangerous when he pulled out a knife and began demanding to speak to a particular officer in the clinic.
“Comparatively speaking it went better than it has before,” Van Bever said. “Some people realized it was an exercise, so they have that added pressure because they know everyone’s watching to see what they do.”
Though the exercise went well, it did serve to point out to mental health leadership some problems that needed addressing.
“Our personnel mistakes were pretty low; we mostly identified logistical problems with the office layout and building,” Van Bever said. “We went into lockdown, but one of our front doors can’t be locked from the inside – that’s not to mention there’s glass everywhere, so realistically speaking, you could just kick it in and enter if you wanted to.”
Though security forces was mostly facilitating the exercise for mental health, they took it as valuable experience for their newer members.
“We take several things out of this kind of exercise, things we did well at,” Nelson said. “Things we can do better on, there’s always things we can do better on. We see that and take it back to our training – this is where we can focus and better prepare for the future.
“It keeps everybody safe and helps everybody understand what’s going on in this kind of situation,” Nelson said.
| Date Taken: | 08.26.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.07.2016 14:45 |
| Story ID: | 208981 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Security Forces, Mental Health conduct patient under duress exercise, by TSgt Kyle Johnson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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