Greywolf medics talk gadgets and gizmos with "technology scouts"

Photo By Spc. Sharla Lewis | 1st Lt. Delavega (left) and Staff Sgt. Nina Persons, medical personnel with the special troops battalion, learn of a casualty extraction device idea designed by another Soldier in 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. A Science and Technology Assistance Team visited Forward Operating Base Marez, May 19, the site of the brigade's headquarters, retaining feedback and new ideas for gear from Soldiers of various job fields.  

MOSUL, IRAQ

05.19.2009

Story by Spc. Sharla Lewis 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, MOSUL, Iraq - Soldiers with the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team Special Troops Battalion who work in the battalion's aid station on Forward Operating Base Marez had the opportunity to help develop new, more user-friendly equipment for their jobs, May 19.

The medical personnel from BSB spoke with the 20th Science and Technology Assistance Team, or STAT, from Camp Victory in Baghdad about modifications that they commonly saw medics with 3rd HBCT make to their gear.

The BSB medical personnel also offered input on a product prototype that the STAT brought and displayed some equipment that they had purchased with their own money in the hopes that the STAT could make those items available for standard issue.

Staff Sgt. Nina Persons, a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, and the clinic staff reviewed and provided input for a soft-sided litter designed for casualty movement that the STAT brought. The prototype could be rolled or folded, and carried by any Soldier, but didn't have spinal support for a casualty with a head or neck injury or straps to secure the casualty in the case of a bumpy ride.

"I think any input that we can give medically is good," said Persons. "That's how we advance our medical care in the stuff that we use on the ground, even in the combat support hospital."

Persons also displayed two casualty extraction devices, both used to pull a casualty from vehicle wreckage and move them to safety. The strap connected quickly to a casualty's bulletproof vest and split in two on the other end, forming rubber handles for the medic to move the casualty to safety more easily.

"It's not available to us because we aren't a [lower level] unit," said Staff Sgt. Nina Persons, a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company. "These devices are something that medics on foot should carry in case they get hit to extract the casualty quickly."

The STAT falls under Field Assistance in Science and Technology and consists of two officers, two non-commissioned officers and a civilian experimental psychologist.

The team travels throughout theater, gathering input and ideas from deployed Soldiers and submit the information for review or development at various laboratories.

"The way our team is organized, you could say that we're technology scouts," said Maj. Chris Enderton, the team's officer in charge.

Enderton said that their job provided a liaison for Soldiers to voice their concerns and opinions about the gear and equipment that they use on a day-to-day basis.

Soldiers may contact the team for questions or to suggest ideas, or visit https://peosoldier.army.mil to submit an equipment improvement proposal.

• Date Taken: 05.19.2009
• Date Posted: 06.01.2009 16:25
• Story ID: 34394
• Location: MOSUL, IQ