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Seabees Learn Medical Evacuation Procedures

Navy NewStand

Story Number: NNS030422-01
Release Date: 4/22/2003 10:14:00 AM

By Journalist 1st Class (SW) Scott Sutherland, I MEG Public Affairs

CAMP 93, Kuwait (NNS) -- Navy Seabee Carlos Gonzalez stood next to the Army UH-60 "Blackhawk" helicopter in the desert here on a recent Sunday afternoon. Wearing full battle gear with his M-16 weapon strapped over his shoulder, Gonzalez was totally engrossed in what Army Staff Sgt. James Neel was saying.

"Today, you're going to learn three things," Neel told about 50 Seabees and Marines, including Gonzalez. "You'll learn about the capability of the aircraft, patient care, and medical equipment aboard the helicopter."

When the medical evacuation training session was over two hours later, Construction Mechanic 2nd Class Gonzalez from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5, walked away, smiling. "This is some of the best training I've ever received," said the San Diego native.

The exercise concluded the following night when the same personnel - medics and assigned medical assistance teams from the Navy and Marine Corps - practiced airlifting "patients" in the dark.

The exercise commenced when the Army's 498th Medical Company based in Fort Benning, Ga., currently working for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF), flew one of its helicopters into a camp with a line-up of Seabees from NMCBs 5 and 74 waving blue banners to simulate blue smoke identifying the landing zone. Once they touched down, representatives from NMCB 5's medical department welcomed the five-man Blackhawk crew. After a quick brief, the troops gathered around the aircraft, where Neel talked about proper procedures and techniques involved in successfully evacuating injured personnel.

Neel presented general information about medevac (medical evacuation) procedures. For the most part, it was refresher training for corpsmen. Non-medical personnel assigned as litter, or stretcher, bearers were given a rare opportunity to learn from Army specialists who do advanced life support services full time.

The specially designed medical helicopter can hold seven patients - three severely injured litter patients who require emergency care, and four ambulatory patients, those who don't need immediate medical attention.

"Personnel suffering head or upper body injuries like chest wounds are given priority boarding the aircraft," said Neel.

Seabees and Marines learned that the most severely injured litter patients are put nearest the exits so they can be taken off the aircraft first. The litter-bearer teams practiced entering the aircraft from both sides, emphasizing safety around the rotors while practicing the best techniques to approach the helicopter. One of those is the low crouch technique when approaching the helicopter's entrances from a 90-degree angle.

"You have to get to the aircraft as quickly as possible, and you must always work as a team," said Neel. "After you drop the litter in the helicopter, you quickly move away from the aircraft together, always following flight crew medical personnel."

Aboard medical equipment includes advanced cardiovascular life support drugs, a defibrillator, and a vital signs monitor for blood pressure, pulse and blood oxygen saturation.

A few days before the Blackhawk touched down for training, corpsmen from NMCB-5's medical department held their own training, covering such topics as initiating a medevac request, operating in a landing zone, and transporting patients to the battalion aide station, or BAS. Saying how important it is to perform under pressure, "The Professional's" Medical Officer Lt. Ron Birnbaum emphasized the need to remain calm during a medevac.

"Evacuating patients isn't an easy thing to do," he told members of the medical assist teams. "When training, we want you to be calm and we want the exercise to be deliberate. If you're scared in a real situation, stop for a second and say to yourself, 'I'm scared.' There's power in that. It'll help keep you under control."

For Seabees like Carlos Gonzalez, they'll be able to use the knowledge and skills, possibly being the difference between life or death in a real-life situation.