Courtesy Photo | The 1 Hospital Support Battalion medical facility here is a state-of-the-art facility,...... read more read more
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SHOALWATER BAY TRAINING AREA, Australia — A small cluster of green tents outside the 1 Hospital Support Battalion medical facility contains quality care to Australian and U.S. troops participating in Exercise Talisman Saber 2009.
The 1 HSB medical facility is staffed with approximately 170 Australian and U.S. military medical personnel including medics, nurses, surgeons, doctors, pharmacists and other specialists. It is equipped with 20 low dependency beds, 10 medium dependency beds, 2 high-dependency and 5 in an isolation ward.
It is also equipped with the latest medical technology and field-friendly equipment to make the facility just as healthy, sterile and effective as a stationary hospital. One of the most critical pieces is a high-efficiency air filter which keeps clean air flowing through the wards.
"This is state-of-the-art equipment designed to simulate the environment in a civilian hospital as closely as possible," said the commanding officer of 1HSB, Australian army Lt. Col. Lachlan Sinclair. "This allows us to treat troops who are injured or become ill during the exercise more effectively."
Primary medical care starts with the medics on the ground. After giving first-responder care and stabilizing the patient, they are trained to prepare a nine-line casualty evacuation request, a format with which both Australian and U.S. forces are familiar with.
The nine-line is received by one of two casualty regulating cells: CRC-East, which serves troops near the Shoalwater Bay Training area and CRC-North, for troops near Bradshaw Training Area in Darwin. From there, experienced medical providers decide where the best facility is based on the services available. For those closest to Bradshaw training area, the U.S.'s 1st Forward Resuscitation Surgical System is equipped with capabilities similar to those of 1 HSB.
"The whole treatment process begins with a call. Accidents, injuries and illnesses are an inevitable part of training. We make sure the process to get them fast, quality care is initiated seamlessly," said Australian air force group Capt. Graeme Peel, aero medical evacuation operations officer, CRC-East.
Along with a primary civilian contracted medical flight rescue team, there are two military aircraft on standby. In the event the hospital reaches full capacity or cannot provide necessary care to a patient, they can be sent to civilian facilities via these aircraft.
Interaction among Australian and U.S. medical providers is critical and has been beneficial in ensuring quality health care is readily available to troops. When they are not treating patients, medical personnel learn from each other — not only about medical topics, but cultural as well.
"We've found that we're very similar, but there are some minor things that take some getting used to. For example, we have different names for some medicines, and that's something critical we need to understand about each other," said U.S. Navy ward doctor, Lt. Debra Lowry, from Bethesda, Md. "Other than that, things have been going smoothly. The Australians are fun and interesting people to be around."
As 22,000 Australian and U.S. service members train together in a multitude of settings, with threats such as insect and snake bites, diseases and illnesses, hundreds of well-trained medical personnel are prepared to treat them.
"We have Australians who have come from all corners of the country to provide quality care. We also have American men and women working within our departments and have fit in just fine," said Sinclair, from Canberra. "We're ready."
Talisman Saber is a biennial combined training activity designed to train Australian and U.S. forces in planning and conducting combined task force operations, which will help improve ADF/US combat readiness and inter-operability.
| Date Taken: | 07.15.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2009 02:14 |
| Story ID: | 36462 |
| Location: | SHOALWATER BAY TRAINING AREA, QL, AU |
| Web Views: | 187 |
| Downloads: | 151 |
This work, Australian, U.S. troops provide quality medical care during TS09, by GySgt Cristina Bates, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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