FORT MCCOY, Wisconsin — "15 mics out, we need 4 people," screams someone in the room, as 8 people run up to help without hesitation. The warehouse bay door lifted as the sun poured in, shining on the swirl of different colors of uniforms all working together to get ready for the 24 hour missions ahead. Mannequins are being slid in and out on tourniquets from cubicles that resemble a wooden morgue covering the walls, floor to ceiling, holding more than 350 mannequins. Role players and mannequins are being covered in special effects makeup to simulate battlefield injuries. This process is known as moulage and is created by the artists of Mannequinville on Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin. Each body and injuries marked, tagged, and very different from the next all heading forward to different areas and training scenarios.
U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Joseph Barry, assigned to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, is tasked with wearing a “Cut Suit” during the training exercise. “This was the first time I’ve seen the Cut Suit and I’ve worn it three times throughout this exercise,” Barry said. “It weighs about 60 pounds once everything is on and can be a really tiring experience."
The Human Worn Partial Task Surgical Simulator (a.k.a. “Cut Suit”) is the most realistic way to simulate the look, feel and smell of severe traumatic events on a live human while allowing first responders and physicians to safely perform real procedures from the point of injury to treatment en route and transition of care to surgical intervention. It contains artificial vital organs and skin that can undergo repeated open operations and lifesaving procedures.
Barry said he was told the different injuries to act out so the surgical team was able to accurately respond to the scenario. “Laying on the table in the operating room was a bit nerve-racking as I listened to the surgeons saying what surgery they were about to perform on me,” said Barry. “There is always a fear when someone is using real instruments on you.”
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brent A. Drost, 7306th MESB, San Antonio, Texas, is the lead person over all simulation mannequins for these training exercises.
“This is my tenth exercise here,” said Drost. “Each individual type of simulation mannequin requires a different training to operate.”
Drost explained some of the features of the simulation mannequins were advanced enough to where he could control them from a different location.
“The pupils can be changed, the amputated legs will squirt blood just as an arterial bleed would, they can breathe, cry, have a pulse and heart rate, blink, and the computer knows if you have given the correct medication,” said Drost. “The computer will read if you have done everything accurately and the mannequins will die if not treated correctly, just as a human would.”
Another unique mannequin was one out at a forward location in the fictitious country of Atropia. This female mannequin had real human bones inside of it. The bones were given by someone donating their body to science.
“This mannequin is unique because there are real human bones with fractures inside it,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jared Ciempa, x-ray technician, 865th Combat Support Hospital, Utica, New York. “We get real world training without having to expose a real life person. This helps the reservist that doesn’t do this on the outside to get the training they need for when they go down range. This helps them out drastically.”
Ciempa said the entire experience has been unique because it had Army, Navy, Air Force and foreign military members all working together. “Us all working together as a unit would be what happens down range, especially in a hospital,” said Ciempa. “We all bring such a different set of skills that helps us train to be a part of the bigger team.”
There are more than 600 Reserve Citizen Airmen from 42 installations in 67 career fields supporting Patriot Warrior 2019. Reserve Citizen Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and international partners joined together for this training to increase global capabilities. The interlinked exercises include Patriot Warrior, Global Medic, and CSTX.