POHANG, South Korea - Soldiers and sailors participating in the Combined Joint Logistics Over the Shore exercise near Pohang, South Korea, conducted mass casualty training at Dogu Beach, April 17.
“What we just saw out on the beach was the utilization of our combined medical assets that we have here,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer James Morson, senior chief hospital corpsman and the staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the combined joint task force medical group in CJLOTS.
The Army and Navy responded to a mass casualty situation and ensured that injured personnel got proper care on the spot, Morson said.
After that, the casualties are taken to the next level at a beach aid station and then to a hospital for definitive care.
“This exercise shows that if any medical casualties take place, we have the ability and the capability to give the appropriate care, get that patient treated, save their lives and get them healthy again,” Morson said.
One portion of the exercise was conducted on a Trident Pier, a temporary pier set up for an area that doesn’t have a place for boats to dock or units to receive supplies, which was built in support of CJLOTS.
The wind and the surf on the water that morning added another challenge to the already unfamiliar territory for the ambulance driver.
“The pier is floating,” Morson said. “It’s moving constantly. Medics are getting an ambulance, driving it out there, and then going to the unknown.”
“You can see stuff going on,” he continued. “You’re not on land. You have water surrounding you on all sides.
Navy and Army medical units worked jointly during the exercise and tested their personnel and procedures during the MASCAS. Before CJLOTS, the units had not worked together and had to adjust their methods in order to be successful as a team.
“You’re getting people who don’t know each other, but that’s the great thing about the services all coming together,” Morson said. “Even though we all have our own peculiarities about how we operate, we come together, we figure it out and we operate as one cohesive unit.”
“They bring different things to the fight, a lot of the same knowledge base with just a little bit of fine tuning on certain key points,” he said about working with the Army previously and during this mission. “I think we do mesh well together.”
The ambulance drivers and first responding medics were the main focus of the MASCAS.
“Without the drivers and medics, we wouldn’t be able to get all those casualties off at one time and get them to the higher level of care,” Morson explained.
Army Sgt. Eric Stith, a combat medic from 568th Medical Company, 168th Medical Battalion, 65th Medical Brigade, was the first one to evaluate and treat the casualties on the pier.
After multiple training exercises before and during CJLOTS, Stith feels confident rendering aid to those in need in unforeseen circumstances.
“I do feel like we’re prepared in the event that this happens,” Stith said about MASCAS operations. “I just want to be ready.”