The Gateway

Earlier this month, the 14th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) participated in an MC4-based training exercise at Fort Gordon, Ga. This “Train as You Fight” event provided the indigenous staff and PROFIS personnel with hands-on training on MC4 systems.

By replicating some of the typical battlefield wounds, the unit honed its MC4 skills by utilizing TC2 and AHLTA-T for inpatient and ER scenarios. Additionally, they were able to digitally restock their medical supplies through the use of DCAM.

The unit’s S6 personnel practiced setting up the network to support MC4, while MC4’s technical support team (TST) provided over-the-shoulder training and support to the medical staff. The command and control (C2) elements utilized JMeWS and TMDS training servers to monitor, track and process notional patient play.

During this exercise, MC4 representatives assisted the unit streamline their standard operating procedures (SOPs) and educated the unit on the tiered support structure they will rely upon when they deploy with MC4 downrange. At the conclusion of the training, 14th CSH Commander Col. Judith Lee presented multiple commanders’ coins to the MC4 TST for outstanding service and support.

The unit is no stranger to MC4, as it has made historic strides with MC4s utilization in Afghanistan and during Joint Task Force-Katrina relief efforts. The commander and staff’s emphasis on pre-deployment training with MC4 systems represents the forward thinking necessary for success on their road to war.

To date, expanding the use of MC4 to garrison battalion aid stations has been successful, in large part to the close coordination and determination of many Soldiers in the 3rd Infantry Division and the 82nd Airborne Division. Proof of that success has come in the form of 3,000 electronic patient encounters captured using MC4, between the two divisions.

The daily use of MC4 in garrison is the perfect example of the Army’s “train as you fight” model in action. The divisions are already realizing the benefits of this approach, as it better prepares their medical professionals, logisticians and support personnel to use and support the very same system when they deploy downrange. The lessons learned with each stateside implementation is helping to forecast and troubleshoot issues that often surprise units when they arrive in theater.

Additionally, the systems are filling a need for small clinics in the U.S. to use an EMR system instead of paper. The use of MC4 at this level is complementing the use of the DOD’s EMR system at nearby DOD medical treatment facilities, thus improving continuity of care in those regions. All records captured stateside using MC4 are securely stored in the Theater Medical Data Store (TMDS) and in the clinical data repository, where Soldiers lifelong electronic medical records reside.

MC4 is continuing to assist the 3rd ID to develop business processes to maximize the use of MC4 in garrison. The division aims to complete the rollout of MC4 to its 21 battalion aid stations by the end of this year. We expect to use the implementation of MC4 with the 3rd ID as the model for other stateside aid stations to follow.

I have recently learned that we are not the only ones with a garrison use initiative. The signal community is working an initiative they call “garrison as a docking station.” The effort involves tactical signal units plugging into installation DOIMs with their TOE equipment to train as they fight, providing the same signal support in garrison that they provide in theater. This Signal Corps initiative should dovetail well with our MC4 garrison use efforts.

Implementing and supporting the “train as you fight” model requires collaboration between the MC4 Product Management Office, division surgeons, battalion aid stations and garrison medical treatment facilities. All of these individuals play key roles in the successful implementation of MC4 systems in garrison.