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Instructors teach "PANDAs" how to survive in wild

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Ruby Zarzyczny
  • 939th Air Refueling Wing
PORTLAND, Ore. --  Two reservists from the 304th Rescue Squadron went to the Doernbecher Children's Hospital on Feb. 7 to teach 12 Pediatric and Neonatal Transport Team members how to survive in an isolated environment after a plane crash.

The pediatric teams, called PANDA's, transport premature babies, ill or injured infants and children to care facilities in the Pacific Northwest. The crews often fly along the coastal range, over the Cascade and Rocky Mountains, and high desert areas. When an in-flight emergency occurs, they have a potential risk becoming isolated and finding themselves in a situation where they would need to know how to survive.

PANDA crews receive refresher aircrew training from the Department of Transportation but felt they could use more instruction on how to survive after a crash.

Capt. Wendy Bigelow, a PANDA nurse and Air Force nurse assigned to the 142nd Medical Squadron, Oregon Air National Guard, recognized the need for this training and contacted the Air Force Reserve Command rescue unit.

Master Sgt. Charles Gray is a survival, evasion, resistance, escape instructor in the 304th RQS, and Tech. Sgt. Bryan Lopes is a squadron aircrew life support craftsman. Together they developed a four-hour survival class and a practical exercise tailored for the PANDA transport crews.

"I was very impressed with both of the instructors," said Captain Bigelow. "They came out to the hospital before the class to learn about what we do on the job, the aircraft we use, and inspected our helmets and survival kits, so they could tailor the survival training to our needs. They also made the training fun and easy to remember."

During the class, Sergeant Gray talked to the crew about the five basic needs of survival - personal protection (clothing, shelter and the ability to build a fire), medical condition, sustenance (food and water), travel, and signal and recovery.

"I always advocate doing a quick head-to-toe medical assessment to determine your medical condition," said Sergeant Gray. "If you don't, you may be in shock and not realize you are severely bleeding. If you don't take care of that immediately, the other four needs are not going to matter."

Although some people might put food and water at the top of the list, they come in third among the basic needs.

"When you're in a survival situation, you should determine if you should consume the food and water you have with you, or if you can procure food and water from the environment," said Sergeant Gray. "If you can get sustenance from the environment then you should use those resources first and save the food you have with you for a true emergency.

In a survival situation, where you are trying to conserve energy, calories and water, Sergeant Gray recommends conserving sweat, not water.

"Basically, you shouldn't travel unless you absolutely necessary," he said. "There should be a reason for traveling such as not being able to meet your basic needs where you are, so you need to move."

Sergeant Gray also talked about the psychological aspects of survival and how to identify stressors and prevent becoming overwhelmed.

"In a group survival situation, you have the stress of group dynamics," said Sergeant Gray. "You have to have good leadership and strong followership. You have to understand your strengths and weaknesses and other's strengths and weaknesses to utilize people and work as a team for the betterment of the group."

The most dangerous aspect of survival is complacency and thinking nothing bad will happen.

"When you find yourself in a survival situation, you need to have a plan so you know what to do," said Sergeant Gray. "The military is really good about training for contingencies. Because of this training, when in a basic fight or flight reaction situation, you'll know what to do to and have a greater chance of survival."

Being proactive, developing a plan and then practicing the plan will increase the chances for survival.

"Before this training, I thought I knew a lot about survival," said Helen Thomas, a PANDA paramedic. "They gave us more precise information about surviving a plane crash and what to do on the ground. Some of us are looking forward to the practical exercise planned for the spring. I think combining the classroom training and the practical exercise will really bring the training together for us." (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)