Evans Army Community Hospital (EACH) responded to an installation-wide exercise on July 14, 2021, by triaging 35 simulated causalities from a downed CH-47 Chinook at a Fort Carson, Colorado, training area.
Fort Carson Soldiers role played mass casualty (MASCAL) survivors in this year’s full-scale exercise, Mountain Guardian 21.
“The goal is to realistically evaluate our hospital’s capability of responding to and recovering from a MASCAL event,” said EACH Commander Col. Kevin Bass. “Our role in this full-scale exercise is to receive, triage, treat, monitor and report casualties arriving at our hospital and off-post treatment facilities.”
EACH is responsible for activating and managing the Medical Operations Center (MOC) to carry out the hospital’s Mass Casualty Plan in accordance with Fort Carson’s Mountain Post Emergency Action Plan.
The hospital works closely with U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson and 4th Infantry Division to ensure communication channels are fortified with emergency services on the installation and within the local community.
“Communication is key,” said Bass. “Notifying our staff, patients, visitors and community partners with timely and accurate information is paramount to the success of the exercise.”
Maj. Ernest Dela Cruz, EACH Department of Education chief, says the exercise helps improve Soldiers training requirements under the U.S. Army Medical Command’s (MEDCOM) Individual Critical Task List (ICTL).
“ICTLs are important as they provide the commander a benchmark for technical readiness of the Soldier. These tasks are medical/trauma specific,” said Dela Cruz. “Our effort is to ensure the ICTLs focus on the commander's line of effort in ensuring we have a ready medical force.”
The full-scale exercise is an annual requirement for the hospital. The Department of Education is tasked with evaluating which ITCLs have been completed by the providers.
“(The full-scale exercise) gives the organization an opportunity to build confidence in ensuring we can execute and support a MASCAL event, if that incident ever arises, whether it’s in our area or in a deployed environment,” said Dela Cruz.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2021 12:25 |
| Story ID: | 401314 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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