 |
| From
left to right, Tech. Sgt. Tina McNamara, Senior Master
Sgt. Cynthia Walter, Maj. Rick Williams, and Senior
Airman Patrick McCoy demonstrate the coordination needed
among a team of medics. A breathing bag is used to push
oxygen into the patient’s [dummy’s] lungs and a cardiac
transport monitor is used to monitor the patient’s vital
information. (U.S Air Force photo by Senior Airman
Chris Polites)
|
By
Senior Airman Nicole Talbert
445th Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON
AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO -- Although job responsibilities
differ between Air Force and Army units, a U.S. Army Reserve
Command training exercise, Golden Medic, brought them together
for a common reason; to enhance overall training and battle
readiness.
Ten
members of the 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron were
among more than 2,000 military members who met at Fort Gordon,
Augusta Regional Airport, Ga., and Fort McCoy, Wis., June
10-22, 2005, during the USARC’s largest annual peacetime
medical exercise. Air Force Reserve units, Army Reserve,
Army National Guard, and active Army came from all over
the United States to participate.
“It
is intended to help the Army Reserve work with Air Force
medical units to prepare them for the kind of scenes faced
in Iraq,” said Maj. Edward Gruber, of the Headquarters Air
Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
These
medical units participate in mock war situations using scenarios
that mimic real events that have taken place in Operation
Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.
“Golden
Medic has given them an idea of what to expect after the
12-day exercise. To watch them grow was just awesome,” said
Capt. Dane Gambill, of the 445th AES Aircrew Training.
“Out
of 21 people, 10 have probably never deployed and are new
to their units; meanwhile others were doing jobs they hadn’t
done before.”
Gambill,
a participant of the exercise with previous deployment experience,
says he is better prepared to deploy as a nurse after completing
the Golden Medic.
“The
most realistic exercise is when we did multiple [patient]
on loads and off loads,” said Gambill.
The
participants were dressed in “battle rattle,” helmets and
bullet proof vests. The heat index was near 106 degrees
and communications were limited due to the loud hum of engines
during a "tail-to-tail swap." A CH-47 Chinook
helicopter landed near a runway, where litters were rushed
off the helicopter and loaded on a C-17 cargo aircraft.
In
a real-world situation, combat medics on Army helicopters
would take patients from the battlefield to a Combat Support
Hospital. The Air Force has a liaison at the CSH who
inprocesses the patients on their system. An aeromedical
evacuation crew is alerted to meet patients and transport
them to Balad, Iraq as a central point. A 445th C-141 then
takes the patients to Ramstein AB, Germany.
The
exercise not only helped build a relationship between the
Air Force and Army, but it also gave military members an
opportunity to work side by side with the latest medical
technology.
“There
are two things that are saving these guys so they can get
back home,” said Gruber. “It’s new body armor, because
it protects all the vital organs. The other thing is the
advent of the microprocessor, because all of the medical
equipment is so much smaller now, and the skill levels are
so good, we can push forward into the desert. These guys
are getting immediate care minutes after battle, definitive
care with doctors and qualified people.”
