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Blackanthem Military News
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Last Updated:
May 22, 2012 - 5:37:21 PM |
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Blackanthem Military News
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| Combat Medic Pfc. Elise McNabb, of Hobart, Ind., part of the Indiana National Guard 738th Area Support Medical Company, works on a simulated patient at the Medical Simulation Training Center at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, Ind., Aug. 19. McNabb and the 738th ASMC are training to stay current on their National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians certifications. |
CAMP ATTERBURY, IND - Ask any infantry Soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan how important the combat medic is to their unit and you will receive a wide array of answers, but most would acknowledge a true combat medic is worth their weight in gold. When seconds count, the basics of emergency medicine take over, and those basics must become second nature.
The word stress really doesn't describe what combat medics experience downrange, where the ability to remain focused and calm are paramount. The confidence that comes with experience on the battlefield cannot be replaced, but when combat medics are not deployed down range, maintaining a Combat Life Saver (CLS) certification helps keep those skills sharply honed.
First Army, as an executive agent to U.S. Forces Command, has the critical mission of training and validating all Army National Guard and Army Reserve units throughout the United States. The most realistic training available for these reserve component Soldiers resides at the 24 Medical Simulation Training Centers (MSTC) Army-wide. During Exercise Vibrant Response 12 the 62nd Medical Brigade from Joint Base
Lewis-McChord, Wash., was trained to better achieve their mission objectives.
One of the best teaching tools available at the MSTC is the four validation rooms. Once inside a validation room, combat medics are tasked with treating a "medical mannequin" with injuries while audio designed to simulate the sound of combat is played.
The idea is to "Immerse the Soldier into as close of a real environment as we can. We simulate a combat situation, when they go into that situation, and they check the mannequin, he is actually breathing, he may be bleeding… and if they don't treat them appropriately, then the mannequin will simulate dying," said Thomas Deen, the Emergency Medical Technician Medic Coordinator here.
A video camera records the actions of the combat lifesaver, and the resulting DVD, which is taken back to the unit, becomes a powerful training tool. According to Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Fodrie, the MSTC Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, "They can take (the DVD) back to the unit, and that unit gets to say, wait a minute, this isn't what we expected. We expected you sit on the armory floor and watch PowerPoint's all day about Combat Lifesaver. Realism is the key," said Fodrie.
"One of the limitations of conventional training is that the instructor has to be present, and we give cues and we give them guidelines, so they may pay more attention to the instructor that they do the actual scenario. By removing the instructor from the environment, they have to pay more attention to the actual patient," Fodrie said.
When new lifesaving procedures are learned in theater, the challenge becomes relaying the knowledge to units in the States. The MSTC establishes a standardized, rapid system of exporting new information and skills as quickly as possible, which translates to lives saved.
ADDITIONAL PHOTO:
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| Medical Instructor Thomas Deen gives direction to Combat Medic Pfc. Elise McNabb, of Hobart, Ind., part of the Indiana National Guard 738th Area Support Medical Company, works on a simulated patient at the Medical Simulation Training Center at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, Ind., Aug. 19. The $1.5 million, 7,500 square-foot training center is the newest in the world, opening its doors to combat medics in March, 2011. It is the second to be built for the National Guard after Camp Shelby, Miss. |
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