31st MEU Shock Trauma Platoon rehearses pediatric care, procedures

Photo By Sgt. Tiffany Edwards | Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Sheep, officer-in-charge of Shock Trauma Platoon, Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, discusses pediatric treatment during Amphibious Landing Exercise 33 (PHIBLEX 33) at Col. Ernesto Ravina Air Base, Philippines, Oct. 8, 2016. Shock Trauma Plt. conducted medical training during PHIBLEX 33 to prepare its Sailors to treat child patients. PHIBLEX 33 is an annual U.S.-Philippine military bilateral exercise that combines amphibious capabilities and live-fire training with humanitarian civic assistance efforts to strengthen interoperability and working relationships. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tiffany Edwards/Released)  

COL. ERNESTO RAVINA AIR BASE, PHILIPPINES

10.09.2016

Story by Sgt. Tiffany Edwards 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

COL. ERNESTO RAVINA AIR BASE, Philippines – U.S. Navy medical officers and corpsmen with Shock Trauma Platoon, Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducted pediatric malady training at Col. Ernesto Ravina Air Base, Philippines, during Amphibious Landing Exercise 33 (PHIBLEX 33) Oct. 8, 2016.
“We covered pediatric trauma resuscitation and blood testing to detect maladies,” said Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Sheep, officer-in-charge of Shock Trauma Plt., CLB-31, 31st MEU. “One of the things we enjoy about PHIBLEX is interacting with the local children. We want to be able to respond appropriately to all trauma scenarios when they do come up, including pediatric cases.”
The day’s training included a review of different injuries and illnesses children are susceptible to, as well as blood testing procedures and medical examinations to quickly pinpoint different maladies that can affect child patients. Sheep also discussed with the hospital corpsmen the anatomical differences between children and adults and how that knowledge can be applied in specific trauma situations. Medical personnel have to take into account how medication, fluid and blood doses are different in children, and how children respond differently than adults to specific treatments.
“This training absolutely benefits the Shock Trauma Platoon,” Sheep said. “We want to have the widest possible applicability of medical care to both adults and children. We want to be able to treat anyone who comes through our facility at any time for anything, and in a humanitarian assistance or disaster relief scenario, we are more likely to have pediatric casualties than adult casualties.”
The Shock Trauma Plt. Sailors also conducted scenario-based training with their Philippine Marine counterparts during PHIBLEX 33, based on three common trauma injuries: penetrating trauma resulting in massive blood-loss; airway-compromising burns; and lung abnormalities caused by penetrating trauma. According to Sheep, the Philippine Marines partnered with the corpsmen, and then the platoon was split into two teams to see who could perform the fastest resuscitation.
“Everyone had a good time, and the Philippine Marines certainly enjoyed being a part of the training,” Sheep said. “We gain experience from working with the Philippine Marines, they bring different scenarios to the table. They get to see how we do things, and it’s also just really fun to build camaraderie with our Philippine counterparts.”

• Date Taken: 10.09.2016
• Date Posted: 10.17.2016 04:23
• Story ID: 212002
• Location: COL. ERNESTO RAVINA AIR BASE, PH