322nd Medical Company validates skills of combat medics

Photo By Master Sgt. Edward Daileg | Soldiers from the 322nd Medical Company try to load a casualty on a litter during the medic table training at Camp Cropper Sept. 29. The combat medics who participated in the event needed to meet their annual requirement for their military occupation specialty.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

10.09.2010

Story by Staff Sgt. Edward Daileg 

305th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq - Twenty combat medics put their skills to the test as they low-crawled to casualties in the dark, while screams and the sound of gun fire echoed across the room.

Fortunately for the medics, the chaos was part of a training exercise designed to prepare them for combat casualties.

The 322nd Medical Company sponsored the event for medics on Camp Cropper so they could complete their Table VIII training.

“Table VIII consists of medical and trauma scenarios in both hospital and combat environments that combine medical skills from the first seven stages,” said Staff Sgt. Heather Keaveny, the non-commissioned officer in charge of sustainment for the 322nd Medical Company.

Throughout the past year, the medics completed the first seven training tables. These events prepared them for Table VIII, which is the capstone training event for a medic. Upon completion of Table VIII, the soldiers are recertified to continue to serve in the Army as a combat medic.

During the training, medics encountered challenges like lost limbs, excessive bleeding, and initiating an IV in the dark, but overcame them and took care of the injured service members.

Following medical treatment, the wounded were transported to a casualty collection point where the medics completed their final task of the training, calling in a nine-line medical evacuation request.

“The trauma lanes help you realize that in a real environment you’re not going to have the situation mapped out,” said Pfc. Christen Wilson, a platoon medic with the 108th Military Police Company, who completed all the training required for combat medic recertification.

To complete their validation the medics also had to demonstrate basic medical assessments, proper documentation of care, and transfer of care decisions during the medical assessment and treatment lanes.

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Kimberly Pillivant, the sustainment officer for the 322nd Medical Company, made the training as realistic as possible by enlisting soldiers from the 105th and 108th MP Companies to role-play as casualties.

Providing different characters who weren’t the medic’s co-workers made the training more exciting and realistic, she said.

“Our main goal for this training is for our soldiers to get a realistic experience to practice their medical skills in stressful situations in different environments,” said Pillivant.

According to Spc. Shannon Forsbach, one of the medics who completed Table VIII, Pilivant succeeded.

“There’s nothing that I’ve done in my military career that’s as realistic as this. This gets me as close to that scenario as I can imagine,” she said.

• Date Taken: 10.09.2010
• Date Posted: 10.09.2010 08:34
• Story ID: 57813
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ