Fleet Hospital Reservists Train for Forward Deployment and Survival
Navy NewStand
Story Number: NNS030501-12
Release Date: 5/2/2003 10:40:00 AM
By Ensign Shane Linkous, Naval Reserve Information Bureau Southwest 111
MINERAL WELLS, Texas (NNS) -- There is nothing easy about treating a critically injured patient in a combat zone. It is always harder than you expect.
Those were the instructional words of Army 1st Lt. Gregory Miller, a medic assigned to Operational Detachment Alpha 981 Co. B, 5th Special Forces (ODA 981), as he lectured to doctors, nurses, corpsmen and support personnel of Naval Reserve Fleet Hospital Dallas Det. 19 (FHD Det. 19) of Naval Reserve Center Fort Worth, during Operation Vigilant Echo 2003.
More than 40 members of FHD Det. 19 participated in the weekend operation, a joint-force and multinational field training exercise, designed to provide Naval Reserve medical personnel with practical training for deployment to combat operations in a land-based environment.
Held on the 7,500 acre woodland range of the Camp Fort Wolters Army National Guard Training Center outside of Mineral Wells, Texas, fleet hospital personnel received training in helicopter medical evacuation, emergency triage, land navigation, survival, chemical and biological decontamination procedures, and field safety.
Elements of the U.S. Army Special Forces, Army Reserve Officer Training Corps and The Republic of Singapore Air Force provided instruction during the two-day exercise.
"This is some of the best land-based training we've had," said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Juan Rodriguez of FHD Det. 19. "When you don't get out in the field all the time, it's important to re-orient yourself to land operations."
The fleet hospital's emphasis on field training reflects the Navy's ongoing shift in the way it provides medical care in forward-deployed situations.
During Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Navy deployed a number of what it calls "forward surgical resuscitative units" throughout Iraq. These newly-organized teams of six to eight members allow naval medical personnel to provide critical care at or near the front line at a more robust level than ever before, while still remaining highly mobile.
The units have the ability to rapidly set up a mobile surgical facility, and treat up to 24 patients a day during that critical first hour after a battlefield trauma known as the golden hour.
"As the Navy's mission changes, we have to be prepared to change with it," said FHD Det. 19 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Enrique Flores. "With this type of field training, the fleet hospital will be better prepared to provide elements of the forward surgical resuscitative units, because we will have the people, the talent and the field training needed."
The exercise began with instruction in helicopter medical evacuation procedures, where FHD Det. 19 members practiced "hot-loading" simulated casualty victims onto CH-47 Chinook helicopters with rotors churning and ready for take off.
The helicopters and instruction were provided by the Peace Prairie Detachment of the Singapore Air Force, a special multinational detachment of the Texas Army National Guard that operates a helicopter school in conjunction with the Republic of Singapore.
Classes on medical treatment in the field, survival management and field craft were provided by members of ODA 981, a special forces unit of the Colorado Army National Guard that recently returned from deployment in Afghanistan.
"Special forces medics are the epitome of high speed when it comes to combat medical care," said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Derek McCoy of FHD Det. 19. "The level of training they have is incredible, and we're fortunate to have a chance to learn from them."
On day two of the operation, fleet hospital personnel split into eight-member teams for a final exercise involving a land navigation course designed to utilize skills learned during operation.
Teams were required to navigate their way to designated way points and then locate, triage, stabilize and transport simulated causality victims to designated medical evacuation points.
Land navigation instruction was provided by a select group of experienced Army ROTC cadets from Texas Christian University, while Army special forces instructors provided additional medical and field training, and served as simulated casualty victims.
"This kind of field training really builds confidence," said Lt.j.g. Donald Cotti of FHD Det. 19.
"In March, when Iraqi forces ambushed a supply convoy outside of Nasiriya and took American POWs, we witnessed the fact that you don't have to be a member of special forces to find yourself in harm's way," added Flores. "Because of that, I think we all listened a little more intently to what our instructors had to say about operating in the field."
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