EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Airmen carrying a bloodied body of a combat victim simultaneously ducked their heads as they approached the Army UH-60’s whirling blades. They placed the body into the rescue helicopter using a litter. The team communicated with their hands amid the noise, wind and chaos. The same group then carried the litter away from the active helicopter, hunching over as they passed under the spinning rotors.
This was part of a joint Air Force and Army training effort here at the 96th Medical Group March 1. These realistic training scenarios tested the medics' skills needed and built confidence to be able to deliver tactical medicine in austere environments.
The goal was to train the medics side by side in a stressful realistic Tactical Combat Causality Care scenario, where they had to treat victims suffering from specific combat wounds.
“This joint training event was one of many we plan to conduct as the relationships we build between Army and Air Force medics and understanding each other capabilities will be crucial when they deploy in future conflicts,” said Karl Day, 96th MDG training support specialist.
Prior to the start of the trauma lanes all medics were physically stressed with calisthenics. Then they were immediately instructed to start the scenario. To further add realistic stress, the trauma lane area was flooded with smoke, and loud battlefield sound effects.
Once the patient was stabilized, they were put on a litter and moved to a more secure location, approximately 100 yards away. There, the medics called in a 9-Line to request Helicopter and send a casualty report via radio.
The medics then carried the casualty another 100 yards where they loaded them into a field litter ambulance. Once completed, the teams would take the lessons learned from the previous scenario and try again.
After everyone completed the scenario as a medic and security member, Army and Air Force instructors conducted timed tourniquet drills to build muscle memory in the most critical skill of stopping bleeding.
The UH-60 from Fort Rucker Alabama, an on-call 6th Ranger Training Battalion rescue helicopter, arrived providing the medics the experience of moving around, toward, and away from an active aircraft while carrying patients.
More than 70 96th MDG Airmen and 6th RTB medics participated in the training.
“This training provided stressful realistic hands-on training which reinforced the skills that medics will need, as we build medics to confidently, deliver good battlefield medicine in bad places and continue to develop medics for 2030,” said Day.