Photo By Sgt. Hunter Bomar | U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers in the 741st Brigade Engineer Battalion walk prepare...... read more read more
CAMP UMATILLA, Ore. – The Oregon National Guard CERFP task force trained at Camp Umatilla, Hermiston, Oregon, June 12-14 to maintain the standards for emergency management. The standards are set by the National Guard Bureau and the Occupational Safety and Health Organization.
The task force, comprised of Oregon Army and Air National Guard members, is designed to be the subject matter expert in the event of a domestic chemical, biological, nuclear, or radiological incident. The training they engage in prepares them to perform their duties should the situation arise.
Master Sgt. Matthew McCreery, the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of task force operations, Oregon Army National Guard, said in order for the task force to be called upon and respond to local municipalities or the state of Oregon, they need to be able to validate that both the Army and Air Guard members have the required skills and credentials to perform these dangerous disciplines.
McCreery added the joint training opportunity was a rare, yet valuable opportunity. “Not often do our army service members get a chance to cohesively work with the air component, and vice versa, on a mission that could directly reflect the communities we all live in,” he said. “It’s a great joint experience to work with our air force counterpart to be a stronger response for the state of Oregon and Region 10.”
The Air Guard component, the 142nd Fighter Wing, contributes to the fatality search and extraction team, the communication suite, and the medical element. On the Army Guard side, the 741st Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB), which is traditionally an engineer battalion, makes up the command and control element, the search and extraction section, and the decontamination section.
During the training, only the medical teams are evaluated to ensure they are up to standard. Senior Airman Christopher Schiller, Aerospace medical technician assigned as a search and extraction medic, 142nd Medical Group, Det. 1, Oregon Air National Guard, explained his role on the team.
“When we go out to a disaster, I’m responsible for the initial treatment of a patient,” he said. “We get on scene, and they send us with the recon teams. I'm treating patients with anything from a severely traumatic injury, to someone who just rolled their ankle and needs help getting back to the hospital."
“I love my job, and I love taking care of people,” Schiller added. “I also love teaching and helping people here know why something is happening, whether it be a casualty, understanding why I'm doing a treatment, or a Soldier understanding what’s going on, so they can assist me and make sure that patient has the best outcome.”
Because of the number of components that make up the task force, and its joint operational nature, it requires teamwork and communication to get the job done.
“There has to be a lot of situational awareness to make sure patients are taken care of properly,” said Senior Airmen Gabriella Boros, 142nd Fighter Wing, Oregon Air National Guard, “We all are working together, and we all have to have good communication, so we can be a tight-knit group. Without that communication, we wouldn’t be able to give proper patient care.”
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2022 17:38 |
| Story ID: | 423307 |
| Location: | HERMISTON, OR, US |
| Web Views: | 216 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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