Airmen medics take training to new heights

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Daniel Martinez
  • 506th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE, Iraq --  Working through the sounds of beeping heart monitors, clanking metallic utensils, and the rustling of medical scrubs, an Air Force team of nurses, physicians and other personnel sharpened their skills during a medical evacuation training exercise here Sept. 3. 

"We're training in patient packaging, which is arranging a patient to be transported," said Maj. (Dr.) Greg Stroup, 506th Expeditionary Medical Squadron, general trauma surgeon, deployed here from the 60th Medical Group, Travis Air Force Base, Calif. "By placing all the equipment and monitoring supplies and strapping it safely and securely onto the litter, our manpower team can then move them and all their equipment from the ward or the emergency room out onto the flight line." 

The major said the most important part of the training was the repetition. 

"Practicing it over and over again helps it to become second nature so you don't have to think about it," he added. 

Once the medical staff treated and prepared the patient for transport, the manpower team moved the patient to a nearby helicopter pad where a pair of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters waited to simulate transporting the patient to the Air Force Theater Hospital at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. 

The manpower team consists of five Airmen: four to move the litter and the fifth to pull the gurney out so the whole team can hoist it onto the helicopter. 

"It's our responsibility to move the patient safely out to the helicopter and make sure everything is packaged correctly," said Senior Master Sgt. Daniel Pehrson, 506th EMEDS, superintendent, first sergeant and manpower team chief, deployed here from the 96th MDG, Eglin AFB, Fla. "We make sure the litter straps are tied down correctly so nothing will fly out and cause any damage to the aircraft." 

Sergeant Pehrson said the training was important because it helped everyone learn each other's roles and ways to manage the process more efficiently. 

"There's proper ways to do things and that's what this training was all about," he said.
Recalling a real-world scenario, Major Stroup illustrated how this training is beneficial for trauma patients. 

"We had a patient who was medevaced to Balad ... He was in an MRAP (mine resistant ambush protected vehicle) that was hit by an improvised explosive device and he had some pretty significant soft tissue injuries," Major Stroup said. "We intubated and resuscitated him in the ER. We then took him to the operating room, washed out and cleaned his wounds, packed them, then stabilized him in the intensive care unit." 

The major added the patient required additional treatment so he was transported by helicopter, similar to the exercise scenario. 

The 506th EMEDS staff believes the medical evacuation training they received will enhance their life-saving patient care abilities. 

"Anything that can expedite the process of moving a patient faster and more safely is beneficial because it's that much closer to getting the patient to a higher level of care," said Senior Airman Haley Lawrence, 506th EMEDS, ER medic, deployed here from the 96th MDG, Eglin AFB, Fla. "I would say that the most important part of this training is knowing that it will help us save lives."