Hospital Corpsmen graduate from trauma training program at Naval Hospital Jacksonville

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Jacob Sippel | JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (August 20, 2019) – Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Henry Branham (right), a sailor participating in Navy Medicine’s Hospital Corpsman Trauma Training, assists with suturing a patient’s partially-draped arm at UF Health Jacksonville on Aug. 20. Sixteen hospital corpsmen from across the Navy received two weeks of specialized training at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, followed by five weeks at UF Health Jacksonville (a Level I trauma center). Branham, a native of Seattle, Washington, will be assigned to11th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “This course has exposed me to real-life scenarios that I’ll be expected to assess and treat on my own when I’m down range with my Marines. Because of this training, I believe I’ll be able to provide the best medical care to my Marines when they need it.” The corpsmen, who have already served one tour at a military treatment facility, are then assigned to operational units across the globe. The clinical rotations provide enhanced real-world trauma experience for Navy hospital corpsmen, who provide life-saving care to sailors and Marines in the field. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Jacksonville (co-located with NH Jacksonville) ensures warfighters’ medical readiness to deploy and clinicians’ readiness to save lives. (U.S. Navy photo by Jacob Sippel, Naval Hospital Jacksonville/Released).  

JACKSONVILLE, FL, UNITED STATES

08.29.2019

Story by Jeanne Casey 

Naval Hospital Jacksonville

Sixteen hospital corpsmen from across the Navy graduated from Navy Medicine’s Hospital Corpsman Trauma Training program on Aug. 29 at Naval Hospital Jacksonville. This is the second evolution at NH Jacksonville, the Navy’s second site to host the program.

The corpsmen received two weeks of training at NH Jacksonville (including simulation labs and a Tactical Combat Casualty Care course), followed by five weeks at UF Health Jacksonville (a Level I trauma center), with rotations in the emergency department, trauma resuscitation, intensive care unit, and wound management.

The corpsmen, who have already served one tour at a military treatment facility (after completing Navy Hospital Corps “A” School), will serve next with an operational unit, such as a Marine Corps unit or Navy ship.

The program provides enhanced real-world trauma experience for Navy hospital corpsmen, who provide life-saving care to sailors and Marines in the field.

“With this program, we increase the ability of hospital corpsmen assigned to operational units across the Navy and Marine Corps, to save lives at sea, in the air, and on land,” said Capt. Matthew Case, commander, NH Jacksonville and commanding officer, Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Jacksonville.

“This course has exposed me to real-life scenarios that I’ll be expected to assess and treat on my own when I’m down range with my Marines,” said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Henry Branham, who is headed to 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “Because of this training, I’m confident that I’ll be able to provide the best medical care to my Marines when they need it.”

“I’m going to a Navy destroyer next, and many sailors will count on me to provide exceptional care. This life-saving course will make me a better corpsman,” noted Hospitalman Nathalyn Rosales. She has orders to USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108).

The Hospital Corpsman Trauma Training program furthers the Navy surgeon general’s goal to achieve maximum future life-saving capabilities and survivability along the continuum of care.

The training partnership includes Navy Medicine, Navy Medicine Operational Training Center, NH Jacksonville and NMRTC Jacksonville, and UF Health.

“Navy hospital corpsmen combine the best aspects of clinical excellence and battlefield skills, to save lives. It’s an honor to be part of this partnership,” stated David Meysenburg, UF Health Jacksonville’s division director of emergency and trauma services. Meysenburg, whose father is a retired Navy hospital corpsman, remarked on the presence of historic ties to the Navy. “The three founding pillars of UF Health Jacksonville’s trauma program all began their careers as Navy surgeons.”

“The hospital corpsmen have flawlessly integrated into our team, and are an asset to our patients and staff,” observed Owen Cabo, a registered nurse at UF Health Jacksonville.

The first site to host this Navy Medicine program, launched in fall 2017, was Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center and John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (located in Chicago, Illinois). Naval Hospital Jacksonville will host its next class in October.

Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Jacksonville (co-located with Naval Hospital Jacksonville) ensures warfighters’ medical readiness to deploy and clinicians’ readiness to save lives. NH Jacksonville and NMRTC Jacksonville deliver quality health care, in an integrated system of readiness and health. NH Jacksonville includes five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. It serves 163,000 active-duty and retired sailors, Marines, soldiers, airmen, guardsmen, and their families, including about 83,000 patients who are enrolled with a primary care manager. To find out more, visit www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax.

• Date Taken: 08.29.2019
• Date Posted: 08.30.2019 10:43
• Story ID: 338004
• Location: JACKSONVILLE, FL, US