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Medical students receive hands-on training at Golden Medic

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey S. Williams
  • Golden Medic Public Affairs
AUGUSTA, Ga. --  Nearly 80 students at the "Golden Medic 2007" exercise June 12 didn't just learn by participating in classroom lectures or watching their instructors. They got hands on experience configuring a KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft for medical evacuation.

For most of them, it was their first exposure in using the patient loading system designed for the KC-135 and KC-10 airframes.

With a fellow student securely strapped in place, they carried "litters" onto and off the aircraft, closely following the aircrew's instructions. The plane and crew were from Air Force Reserve Command's 916th Air Refueling Wing, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

"This was a chance to familiarize ground and aeromedical evacuation people on the patient loading system," said Lt. Col. Tom Hansen, an observer controller from the Reserve's 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, McChord AFB, Wash. "The KC-135 is used for this training, but the C-17 and C-130 aircraft are the most frequent aircraft deployed for aeromedical evacuations.

"This gives the students a chance to do this without having the additional pressures of being in a combat environment," he said. "It gives them a chance to become familiar with loading the aircraft and overcoming such challenges as space limitations and to understand the commands from the flight crew."

Master Sgt. Scott Hillis is NCO in charge of clinical training for the 932nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Scott AFB, Ill., and a former crew chief on C-141, C-17 and C-5 aircraft.

This was the reservist's first time at Golden Medic and his first time working with the KC-135.

"It seemed awkward," he said, referring to the steep incline of the patient loading system and the aircraft's space limitations. "If we get a 200-pound patient on a litter, it's going to be difficult getting the patient up there."

The hands-on experience served as a good refresher for Capt. Charlene Velasco, a nurse with the Reserve's 452nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron, March Air Reserve Base, Calif.

"The other time I did this, we had to figure out what we were doing with minimal instruction," she said. "This time, it was helpful to have immediate feedback from the instructors."

Instructors from the 381st Training Squadron, Sheppard AFB, Texas, are on the ground here, able to assist students with the hands-on training they normally wouldn't get with static aircraft or in the classroom.

"With the retirement of the C-141 and the C-9, the Air Force had to search for airframes in order to move the wounded and perform the mission," said Tech. Sgt. Brian Westington, aeromedical evacuation contingency operations training instructor for the 381st Training Squadron. "They tasked the KC-135 Stratotanker refueler and made the necessary modifications to load patients on and off the aircraft. That's what we've been training."

Golden Medic helps pull together all of the units that would be deployed with each other in a combat environment, said Sergeant Westington.

"It actually makes the students interact with each other on a real-time basis instead of the instructors at their formal course portraying those roles," he said.

Even with the help of instructors and students who have been around the deployed environment a time or two, the experience of the patient loading system on KC-135s can get a little unnerving.

"Everyone here seemed a little bit uneasy this morning," said Colonel Hansen, a third-year Golden Medic veteran, commenting on the students' positive attitudes and enthusiasm. "The students wanted to get it right. From what we've been seeing, they have performed well." (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)