Combat medical care showcased at UCHealth

Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Wood | Soldiers with 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) conduct combat casualty care in a training environment at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sept. 22, 2023. UCHealth Medical staff observed how the Army reacts to multiple casualty situations with limited medics and equipment.  

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, UNITED STATES

09.22.2023

Story by Staff Sgt. Michael Wood 

10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Green Berets assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) partnered with UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sept. 22, 2023, This one-day training event demonstrated the Special Forces medical capabilities under austere conditions.

Special Forces Medical Sergeants are trained to provide care in various settings, including emergencies, routine, and long-term care. They specialize in managing trauma, handling infectious diseases, providing cardiac life support, and performing surgical procedures. To maintain their medical certification, they are required to attend the medical refresher course at Fort Liberty every two years. Additionally, they must complete a medical proficiency rotation at a hospital every three years.

The Colorado Military Health System has a partnership with UCHealth Memorial Hospital to enhance the training opportunities for military healthcare personnel, so they can acquire and sustain essential emergency clinical skills.

“When we do our rotations here at Memorial we are working in all of the departments,” said the senior enlisted medical advisor with 10th SFG (A). “We are delivering babies in the OB; working in the trauma bays, burn wards, we are trying to get our hands on every little piece of medicine as we can.”

The Green Berets demonstration showcased Tactical Combat Casualty Care (T-CCC). This is a basic medical care designed to reduce preventable deaths amongst service members before they can get to a hospital. Although most of the staff at Memorial Hospital will never work in situations of providing medical services in war-like conditions, the demonstration still provided applicable knowledge onto the staff.

"A good portion of our staff are always looking for more trauma education," said Megan Thimell, clinical nurse educator for the emergency department at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central. "A lot of them don't know what it is like to not work at Central and have all the resources we have; this simulates what happens when you work in a more rural environment or when you are limited to not having all the doctors, nurses, techs and all the supplies that we have here."

One of Thimell’s roles is to provide monthly Situational Trauma Alert Training (STAT) for the Memorial Hospital Central, North and the Trauma Centers staff in Colorado Springs. This training stimulates realistic emergency medical situations from the patient entering the hospital to discharge.

“Whenever we do a didactic about the importance of STAT and are asked ‘why do we do this?’” Thimell said. “We tell them it’s derived from military practice.”

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• Date Taken: 09.22.2023
• Date Posted: 11.27.2023 15:25
• Story ID: 455562
• Location: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US