Photo By Staff Sgt. Terrence Clyburn | Airmen from multiple aeromedical evacuation squadrons treat a patient during a mock...... read more read more
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GULFPORT, Miss. -- Six Airmen from the New York Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing spent the week of Feb. 12-15 refining techniques used to evacuate injured people from disaster areas as part of Patriot South 2018, an annual exercise that trains federal, state and local emergency responders
The Airmen crewed a C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane from the wing’s 137th Airlift Squadron, which was used to transport simulated casualties and medical evacuees to Nashville, Tennessee; Tampa, Florida; and Jackson, Mississippi working alongside aeromedical evacuation Airmen from several squadrons.
The missions were flown from the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center here.
Staff Sgt. Jaron Brown, one of the crew’s loadmasters, said he was impressed with the teamwork the exercise developed.
“You learn that everyone is willing to put in the effort to make sure they‘re ready for the next natural disaster, because “mother nature” waits for no one,” Brown said.
This year’s focus was on dealing with a simulated earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Zone, according to Capt. Robert McDonald, executive officer with the 105th Operations Group, and a member of the exercise operations staff.
An earthquake which hit New Madrid, Missouri in December 1811—followed by aftershocks in 1812—is considered the most destructive earthquake ever recorded in North America. It had 10 times the destructive power of the quake which leveled San Francisco in 1906.
The exercise occurs every year to prepare multiple areas across the United States for disaster relief response and validates the training for Federal Coordinating Centers, which are activated to organize mass evacuations from disaster locations to safety, McDonald explained.
“Planning for Patriot begins a year prior to the start of the exercise,” McDonald said. “There were approximately 900 civilian and military personnel involved in this year’s exercise.”
FCCs are divided into regions composed of multiple states. The centers have Patient Receptions Areas staffed with nurses, doctors, litter bearers, transportation teams, joint patient tracking teams, and additional medical team members for oversight.
Victims are triaged and sent to hospitals for more comprehensive care.
Sonja L. Stokes-Sumrall, the Area Emergency Manager for the Veteran Health Administration’s Office of Emergency Management liaison, said the exercise is crucial to preparing for the hurricane season in Jackson, Mississippi.
“This particular exercise was setup to identify any short falls or deficiencies prior to the upcoming hurricane season on one June,” Stokes-Sumrall said.
As the C-17 landed, the aeromedical evacuation squadron members on board would work with the civilians at the FCCs to move the victims into the reception areas, evacuating the most critical victims first.
Victims for the exercise were both mannequins and live volunteers from the military. Mid-flight volunteer victims would act out emergency scenarios, such as heart attacks, concussions, and mental breakdowns.
Aeromedical evacuation squadron members are trained to react and stabilize in flight fires, rapid decompressions and medical emergencies.
Airman 1st Class Codi Norman, an aeromedical evacuation technician with the 156th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, from North Carolina Air National Guard said he was happy to participate in the exercise.
“I became a paramedic to save lives and I joined the military for the same reason,” Norman said. “There is no greater thing that we can do than to serve mankind.”
While at the FCCs, the aeromedical evacuation squadron members would talk with the civilian staff showing them proper procedures to get the patients off the jet safely.
“We’ve already seen [domestic operations] in action with Hurricane Katrina, Harvey and Maria,” Norman said. “This is us perfecting the process, so that each subsequent operation runs even smoother than the last and we can move the most people in the safest and most efficient way possible.”
| Date Taken: | 02.22.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2018 09:56 |
| Story ID: | 267355 |
| Location: | GULFPORT , MS, US |
| Hometown: | NEWBURGH, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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