Photo By Spc. Sharla Lewis | Soldiers on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq participated in a training...... read more read more
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CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq – Even while deployed, military units conduct training to prepare for emergency scenarios they may face.
Units at Contingency Operating Base Adder participated in a mass casualty exercise, Sept. 5, to rehearse initial response and medical treatment techniques. The exercise simulated a rocket attack on the base that wounded several Soldiers near the dining facility.
Splayed on the ground, soldiers in costumes complete with protruding intestines or amputated limbs and covered in “blood” yelled for assistance to the responders first on the scene.
Troops dismounted from vehicles and rushed to aid the wounded individuals and load them onto waiting trucks. Then, the vehicles transported the casualties to the base’s combat support hospital for follow-on care or medical evacuation.
Scenarios like this one are familiar to the soldiers of 3rd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division which is mid-way through its fourth deployment to Iraq in support of operations here.
The soldiers that participated in the training said it was a good refresher opportunity.
“This way, when the real thing actually happens we will know what to do,” said Spc. Randall Jackson, with 34th Sapper Company from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, clad in an intestinal wound costume.
Though review for most troops, the exercise provided room for mistakes with the intent of preventing them in real-life scenarios.
“You train as you fight,” said Master Sgt. Willie Hairston, with Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, who observed the training. “You mess it up here so you don’t mess it up later.”
Hairston said the scenario had a good setup with its scattered casualties and started out great but lost momentum as responders spent too long with the first few casualties they treated.
Instead, he said, they should have applied quick fixes to multiple patients and loaded them onto vehicles to receive additional care at the hospital or aid stations.
Those who planned the training said they intended it to stress the post-attack reconnaissance teams and reveal areas in need of improvement. PAR teams rove the base after an incident and are usually first at the scene to provide security and aid to casualties.
“This has been in the works for two months,” said Maj. Rachel Dawson, the surgeon for the advise and assist brigade. “We can call it a success because now we’re able to assess what our weaknesses are and what areas we need to work on.”
At the conclusion of the exercise, casualties peeled stick-on wounds from their skin and turned in their costumes. Soldiers packed up their gear and headed back to their unit areas and medical officers huddled to chat about the day’s events.
Dawson said several meetings in the days following the scenario would review the training and focus on areas that needed improvement. Then, physicians can apply the improvements to their units and conduct additional internal training.
“Our battalions will hold quarterly drills within their areas and send their reports to me,” she said. “We hope to have another base-wide drill to ensure the lessons learned are implemented.”
| Date Taken: | 09.05.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2011 09:06 |
| Story ID: | 77073 |
| Location: | CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IQ |
| Web Views: | 38 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Exercise offers room for errors, practice. Units use training as refresher to perfect real-life responses, by SPC Sharla Lewis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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