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    Medics Unite

    Medics Unite

    Photo By Sgt. Khylee Woodford | Medics from the Maryland National Guard 104th Area Support Medical Company based in...... read more read more

    WAINWRIGHT, AB, CANADA

    05.19.2019

    Story by Spc. Khylee Woodford 

    300th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

    Medics from two Maryland National Guard components united with Canadian soldiers for one mission; train to save a life during a mass casualty (MASCAL) exercise here, Thursday, May 16, 2019.
    “We are providing medical support for a mass casualty exercise today with our Canadian allies” said Staff Sgt. Raquel Reed, a combat medic specialists with the 224th Area Support Medical Company located in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
    “Regardless of who you are working with, you have to communicate well, you have to share the same mission and as medics we want to save lives,” said Reed.
    The multinational exercise was part of Exercise Maple Resolve 19-01, an annual brigade level validation exercise for the Canadian Army’s High Readiness Brigade, designed to develop partnerships among forces and increase interoperability in a field training environment.
    “What makes this experience unique is working with the 224th for the first time in annual training (AT) alongside Canadian forces,” said Sgt. 1st Class William Dick, combat medic specialist and readiness non-commissioned officer for the 104th Area Support Medical Company based in Reisterstown, Maryland. “This exercise definitely strengthens our ability to work together.”
    To make the exercise as realistic as possible, actors joined Canadian Army soldiers and Guardsmen to portray casualties injured from the mock chemical explosion.
    “The Canadians pulled all this together,” said Reed. “Some of the casualties were Canadian and we had a sprinkle of Canadian soldiers who were helping us out as well.”
    Despite caring for actors as patients, Guardsmen understood the realism of the scenario.
    “In a MASCAL situation, what makes it stressful and chaotic is you all have to work together, communications need to be top notch and you still have to unite together to give a high level of care, people’s lives are in your hands,” said Reed.
    Guardsmen and Canadian soldiers carried casualties on litters, guiding the injured by hand through a mess hall staged as a field triage center.
    “It absolutely gives us the almost real world experience to effectively perform our mission on a regular basis, to be able to treat that real world casualty that’s going to need us to save their life,” said Dick.
    Exercise Maple Resolve united the Canadian and Maryland National Guard medic’s abilities along with their individual technical procedures.
    “From calling up a 9-line [military term used to accurately report a soldier needing medical attention], handling sick call paperwork, it’s really interesting to swap different process,” said Reed.
    A MASCAL scenario can be hectic on it’s own, the multinational aspect brought together a challenge but did not deter the Guardsmen from staying on mission.
    “Despite the differences the end goal is still the same, we are here to save a life,” said Reed.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 05.19.2019
    Date Posted: 05.19.2019 21:27
    Story ID: 322997
    Location: WAINWRIGHT, AB, CA
    Hometown: GAITHERSBURG, MD, US
    Hometown: REISTERSTOWN, MD, US

    Web Views: 75
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN