MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIRBASE, Romania (July 16, 2017)— Service members from nearly a dozen NATO nations came together to mend and care for wave after wave of Soldiers who were exhibiting mock injuries on July 16 at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase, Romania.
The injured were simulating wounds, but the medical personnel of the 212th Combat Support Hospital, Role 2-E; the Romanian Role 2-E hospital; and the Balkan Medical Task Force were all performing their duties to the highest level during the mass casualty role-play exercise for Saber Guardian 17 (SG17).
The 30th Medical Brigade provided higher level command to coordinate the efforts of the multinational medical teams, which allowed these nations to learn from one another.
“Motivation has been very high,” said U.S. Army Col. Timothy Bosetti, commander, 30th Medical Brigade. “This is a great and unique opportunity for our brigade and our partner nations. In a real world situation, three role-two hospitals would not be this close in proximity, but in the training environment, it allows us to walk through how we treat our patients, our patient workflow and learn from each other.”
The Soldiers from the respective hospitals were mere feet away from their NATO partner allies, as ambulance after ambulance of simulated wounded arrived with mock blood, speaking different languages.
“If you have a good partnership, but you don’t know how the pieces and parts work together, then it’s no good,” Bosetti said. “We have to make sure we can talk to each other. That’s not just language, but it’s through our electronic communications and understanding how we care for and evacuate patients and how to make that happen. For this we use a NATO standard, which provides that, but you have to know how each country interprets those standards to their operations.”
The proximity of the hospitals and variation of cultures and languages are only a few of the ways this mass casualty event is different than most.
“We are exercising the entire evacuation and treatment system from point of injury all the way back to [Landstuhl Regional Medical Center],” Bossetti said.
This mass casualty training was unique in that it tested all levels of care to include medics in the field treating initial wounds, secondary care at Role 2-E hospitals and final treatment in a Role-4E medical facility like the one in Landstuhl, Germany.
“This is Army medicine at its best, providing care with our international partners,” Bosetti said. “This is the premier expeditionary and globally integrated medical force, ready to meet the ever-changing challenges of today and tomorrow.”
Maj. Alexandru Nicolescu, chief of the Romanian medical team, called the mass casualty “the greatest multinational exercise in which a Romanian medical unit has been involved.”
Nicolescu said his team had the opportunity to improve standards and procedures, exhibit command and control, and expose some of their medical students to a mobile medical operation in a combat support role.
The strong connection between the U.S. and its NATO allies is one that Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, U.S. Army Europe Commander, believes makes Army medicine truly far reaching.
“We’ve always been committed to NATO, and we are never going to be able to do things on our own,” Hodges said. “All of our most reliable allies come from Europe, and so we have a relationship built on trust. Logistics for me is the most important part; it’s the ability to move across Europe and provide medical care like you’ve seen exercised today and support NATO forces. You have to practice that.”