Photo By Ana Henderson | While the Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) Police Department blocked off street access,...... read more read more
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In an emergency situation every second counts, and every move, and decision becomes more critical.
For this reason, the Military Free Fall (MFF) School located at Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) executed a full-scale medical exercise to practice what could one day be a real scenario.
Sgt. 1st Class Charles Brooks is the MFF Special Operations Medic.
“Safety is a number one priority for our command and providing the best standard of care for our personnel. One way to do that is to incorporate clear lines of communication for all entities involved in the emergency medical evacuation process.”
The scenario that played out on Cox Field on the morning of Sept. 15 involved a jumper who injured his leg when landing. Once his fellow jumpers noticed him not standing, they immediately jumped into action, racing to his side, and calling for help on the two-way radio.
The YPG Fire Department arrived within minutes to provide support, the YPG Police Department blocked off street access, and CareFlight flew on to Cox Field for the injured jumper.
“The uniqueness of this situation is while they [MFF medics] are trained for field operations, we can provide a level of emergency medical services across YPG,” explained YPG Deputy Fire Chief Matthew Kelly, who observed the scene. “Being able to work together allows us to get training with them, who are used to working in the field on their own, and they get the chance to work with a municipality while we also get a chance to see their skill set as Warfighters.”
While everyone is highly trained, Kelly explains communication issues such as different radios, different frequencies, and different standard operating procedures between the four entities aiding, is what gets worked out during these types of exercises.
“It’s a lot of moving parts to take care of one patient and provide that expert professional care,” Kelly said.
In this scenario the YPG Fire Department provided support by moving the patient on to the gurney and transporting the patient to their ambulance to protect him from the outdoor elements until CareFlight arrived. They provided an ambulance and fire truck which totaled six crew members, typically two paramedics and four emergency medical technicians.
CareFlight is based in Yuma and not part of the installation, yet they respond to calls at YPG. CareFlight Nurse Haley Stinson explained.
“We try to do as many drills as we can. Not only for our crew but to make sure the people that we serve are comfortable with how we respond. It helps us build those relationships so when the real thing happens, we are ready to go and worked together before and kind of know what to expect.”
| Date Taken: | 09.26.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.26.2022 17:38 |
| Story ID: | 429818 |
| Location: | YUMA PROVING GROUND, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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