Photo By Tish Williamson | Sgt. Jason Flores, Brooke Army Medical Center, serves as a lane evaluator during the...... read more read more
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This year’s Army Best Medic Competition, hosted Sept. 16-20 by U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM), was planned and conducted by U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School, Health Readiness Center of Excellence (AMEDDC&S HRCoE); MEDCOM and AMEDDC&S are co-located at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.
“I have to thank the many AMEDDC&S staff elements, Regional Health Commands Central and Atlantic, and the 502nd Air Base Wing for the competition’s success so far,” said Sgt. Maj. Damon Smith, AMEDDC&S G3/5/7 (Operations) sergeant major. The competition began on Sept. 16 and will culminate after a 72-84 hour continuous combat medicine scenario, requiring plenty of resources and coordination. “I also cannot say enough about the support we received via Herb Coley and the AMEDD Museum Foundation, without our community partners, this event would not have been as successful,” Smith continued.
The execution phase of the competition relies on approximately 70 cadre members organic to the center and school, 60 tasked Soldiers within the command and 23 tasked Soldiers between Region Health Command Central (RHC-C), Regional Health Command Atlantic (RHC-A) and the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) within MEDCOM’s Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC).
Sgt. Jason Flores, non-commissioned officer-in-charge (NCOIC) of the Vascular Surgery Clinic assigned to Charlie Company, Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) at JBSA, Fort Sam Houston is one of this year’s tasked evaluators who was happy to get the call to support. Flores has served as NCOIC for just over eight months and been assigned to BAMC for over two years. Prior to BAMC he was assigned to the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment (ACR) in Fort Irwin, CA as an Opposing Force (OPFOR) during unit pre-deployment training.
“I think all of my tactical and field training combined with the medical preparation I have received through BAMC makes me a great candidate to evaluate a combat medic competition at this level,” Flores said.
While assigned to BAMC, Flores attended medical training at Fort Hood, Texas where graduates of the course receive Advanced Cardiac Life Support certification and advanced training in prolonged field care tactics and strategies that combat units are using, or will use. The Prolonged Field Care scenario is one of the tools evaluators during the ABMC will use to help assess competitor skill levels.
Of the qualifications of this year’s evaluators overall, Smith said, “We (AMEDDC&S) rely on leaders to send us the right people based on requirements we list in the tasker. We give them a base qualification and expect leaders to look into their formations to determine who would serve Army Medicine the best in that capacity.”
As an equalizing measure for evaluators, Sgt. Maj. Litt Moore, the AMEDDC&S Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate (CDID) sergeant major was selected to serve as the lead planner for the 2018 ABMC by MEDCOM. Moore sought out many subject matter experts to assist him and G3/5/7 with the planning, to include Lt. Col. James Pairmore who serves as the Senior Medical Subject Matter Expert for the ABMC, is responsible for the mentorship, standardization and oversight of the 27 lane evaluators assigned to one of the 27 competitor teams.
Pairmore is a Battalion Commander in the Region Health Command Central (RHC-C) and is described as an elite physician assistant within military medicine who is often called on as a guest instructor for the AMEDDC&S Expeditionary Resuscitation Surgical Team-Africa (ERST-A) Training and Support Team. The ERST-A Training and Support Team of Army active duty military and Civilians working to improve current and future capabilities in support of the multi-domain battlefield, using innovation to overcome challenges that the fight of the future presents.
“Lt. Col. Pairmore has done a great job of defining the baseline of success for our group of evaluators so that all competitors start on a level playing field,” Moore said.
As expected, evaluators and competitors alike, are on track to learn something this week as long as they are open to new ideas and innovative solutions to problems. Flores said, “The medical tasks seem to stay the same, but being able to use newer, better, more advanced tools like telemedicine in these prolonged care scenarios, that are newly available to complete these same tasks and save lives is a great thing.”
Through the MEDCOM vision, as Army Medicine evolves, trainers, Soldiers and leaders are charged with leveraging innovation and technology to become the Nation’s premier expeditionary and globally integrated medical force ready to meet the ever-changing challenges of today and tomorrow.
The Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate of the AMEDDC&S HRCoE has drafted a Capability Based Assessment (CBA) that outlines how telemedicine can help Army Medicine care givers improve the care provided during prolonged field care scenarios of the future. This is a vital first step to getting these advanced capabilities into the hands of our deployed medics to ensure they are providing the very best care to our fighting force. Therefore, the planners thought it was vital to include telemedicine assets in the ABMC scenarios.
Army Medicine is stronger due to this annual competition. With Best Medic, the competitors, and evaluators are sure to have countless lessons learned to bring back to their units and the schoolhouse. If competitors weren’t comfortable using these assets before they arrived, they will at least be introduced to the concept and then hopefully seek out those capabilities and training at their home station.
“Army Medicine is showing these competitors to think outside of the box, use what you have in the moment to best treat the patient,” Flores concluded.
The Army Best Medic Competition Awards Ceremony is hosted by MEDCOM and will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. on September 20, by invite only.
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 09.19.2018 13:07 |
| Story ID: | 293415 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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