Bragg, Pope forces conduct joint mass-casualty exercise

Published Oct. 16, 2011
By Staff Sergeant Peter R. Miller
440th Airlift Wing

Pope Field, N.C. -- Following months of planning, the medical staff Airmen of Pope Field and Fort Bragg broke ground Oct. 15-16 as they worked shoulder-to-shoulder during a mass-casualty evacuation training scenario.

In a joint capabilities exercise Soldiers from the 3274th U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Bragg along with Airmen of the 440th Airlift Wing Medical Squadron worked together to achieve training objectives, build camaraderie, share leadership responsibilities and learn each other's lingo.

The exercise began at dawn. Patients were evacuated via from crisis sites across Fort Bragg to an emergency medical center at Pope Field. Patients received immediate life-saving care on-site and en route to Pope, where intensive care personnel and surgical teams provided further treatment.

With ailments ranging from mental breakdown to severe explosion injuries, the wounded and injured streamed in all day. Thirty-nine patients were transferred and treated during the drill. Not all survived.

"I can only imagine what it would be like with a real injury," said Senior Airman Nekeshia Simmons, a public health technician with the 440th Medical Squadron. "I felt anticipation, hoping they would hurry up and get here. There were other hurt people around me moaning and yelling. It felt like forever."

While lying in a pool of her own notional blood, Simmons said she was approached by an Army medic who immediately assessed and treated her bleeding injuries. He asked if she could walk. She could. Medics treated her other injuries on the way to Pope Field.

One medic on the scene was Spec. Daniel San Martin.

"This exercise gave us much needed practice," said San Martin. "The only other place a lot of us work is in the hospital, so it's good to get out and practice these skills in the field."

San Martin said that medics are the military version of civilian emergency medical technicians. They assess patients, provide immediate life-saving care, sort them by injury severity, and transport them. They also communicate with aircrews during helicopter- and vehicular-borne evacuations, he said.

Captain Alberto Bonifacio, the 3274th U.S. Army Headquarters/Headquarters Detachment commander, oversaw Army troop movements during the exercise. He also played a vital role in planning the event. Overall, he said the exercise was a total success.

"Communication is the most important part of this," said Bonifacio. "This was one big exercise in communication and leadership. The ability to work together as one unit is essential to success in theater. Today we were speaking one language: the language of medicine."

Bonifacio said that joint-service trainers and evaluators were key enforcers of medical and military protocol during the exercise. The trainers enhanced the experience by forcing the medical players to think critically and make decisions "on their feet," said Bonifacio.

They challenged Soldiers and Airmen alike, who only asked for more.

"They were very organized and capable of handling anything we threw at them," said Major Catherine Hawley, a 440th Medical Squadron trauma nurse and mass-casualty training coordinator.

Members from both sides of the fence agreed that working with a sister service was motivating, although the services proved to be more alike than previously expected.

"Working with the Army has been interesting," said Simmons. "I was watching how they (the Airmen and Soldiers) work about the same, just different uniforms and different languages."