Joint service exercise highlights European theater emergency response

Photo By John Ciccarelli | Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) partnered with the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron to conduct a Mass Casualty (MASCAL) emergency response training exercise on Nov.2. It involved more than 170 participants and simulated a regional hostile event where nearly two-dozen casualties required evacuations, transport, on-site medical treatment, and hospital care using LRMC’s Emergency Operations Center to manage all medical assets.  

RP, GERMANY

11.02.2022

Story by John Ciccarelli 

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) partnered with the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (86 AES) to conduct a Mass Casualty (MASCAL) emergency response training exercise, Nov. 2.

The exercise, the second of its kind at LRMC since 2019 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, aimed to refine interoperability with military partners while increasing readiness.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Noe Muniz, chief of LRMC’s Commander’s Initiative Group, said the exercise allows LRMC to increase synchronization between local U.S. forces and rehearse capabilities for a mass casualty event that could strain medical assets.

“This MASCAL operation is helping integrate medical readiness with aeromedical evacuation, as well as LRMC’s emergency response,” Muniz said.

The event also addressed Individual Critical Task Lists (ICTLs), skills identified as essential to combat readiness for specific military occupational specialties to determine individual deployment capability, while fine tuning process flow, and patient transport and tracking. The exercise simulated a regional hostile event where nearly two-dozen casualties required evacuations, transport, on-site medical treatment, and hospital care using LRMC’s Emergency Operations Center to manage all medical assets. More than 170 participants were involved
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“Practicing a MASCAL is vital because you are training for a scenario that overwhelms your resources. For LRMC, which serves three continents (Africa, Europe and Middle East), our expectations must be very high because we must support such a large and diverse mission,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Daniel Moseley, staff anesthesiologist at LRMC.

LRMC’s recent response during Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome – the U.S. military withdrawal and evacuation of eligible Afghans from Afghanistan – presented opportunities to partner with host nation medical facilities, a capability LRMC continues to foster.

Army Master Sgt. Eric Holman, Noncommissioned Officer in Charge for Readiness and Integration at LRMC, said this exercise helps medical staff learn how to work under pressure.

“LRMC has a heightened awareness of regional threats, which helps us focus on how we train. By conducting battle drills and collective task training we have increased our interoperability between sister services and NATO partners,” Holman said.

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is the only forward-stationed medical center for the U.S. and Coalition Forces, Department of State personnel and repatriated U.S. citizens. LRMC is also the evacuation and treatment center for all injured U.S. Service Members and civilians, as well as members of 56 Coalition Forces serving across Europe, Africa and the Middle East in support of four combatant commands.

• Date Taken: 11.02.2022
• Date Posted: 11.09.2022 03:48
• Story ID: 432942
• Location: RP, DE