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Medical Group teaches moulage to med students in Serbia

NIS, Serbia — Students from the Dr. Milenko Hadzic Medical School here watch as Senior Master Sgt. Juan Gomez, 86th Medical Group from Ramstein Air Base Germany, applies a moulage gunshot wound to the neck of a classmate Sept. 8 during a moulage class. Members of the 86th Medical Group provided the training to medical students who participated as mock patients in a mass casualty exercise during the live exercise portion of the military medical training exercise in Central and Eastern Europe, or MEDCEUR 2009. (Department of Defense photo by Air Force Senior Airman Kali L. Gradishar)

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September 11, 2009
Air Force Senior Airman Kali L. Gradishar MEDCEUR Public Affairs

NIS, Serbia — Approximately 50 students from the Dr. Milenko Hadzic Medical School here received moulage-application training from members of the 86th Medical Group from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Sept. 8 in preparation for a mass casualty and natural disaster exercise scheduled for Sept. 9-11.

The students, ranging in age from 15 to 18 years old, watched and put into practice various techniques of applying moulage to imitate real-world wounds for the exercise, which is the final portion of the military medical training exercise in Central and Eastern Europe, better known as MEDCEUR 2009.

"We are trying to teach these students how to create realistic wounds for natural disasters and combat operations," said Lt. Col. Jennifer Snyder, 86th MDG "If you can't see a patient's injuries, it makes it really hard to treat them."

Members of 15 nations, to include host-nation Serbia and the U.S., will respond to dramatic scenes acted out by students in the live medical exercise.

"We show them the moulage and talk about acting, but they're teenagers - they're good at acting," Snyder joked.

The simulated exercise scenarios will include an earthquake, flood, fire, car crash and chemical accident.

"These 15 nations will train and practice responding to each situation together. In case there is a disaster anywhere in the world that requires the assistance of other countries, we will already have that experience," said Senior Master Sgt. Juan Gomez, 86th MDG.

"What we're doing is making this like as real of an experience as possible for the medics, doctors, nurses and first responders as possible."

To get an idea of that real-world feel, students observed demonstrations of various gruesome wounds to include an open fracture, laceration, gunshot wound, impaled object and burns. Then, six students were chosen to practice applying moulage to their classmates. Those chosen six, as well as other volunteers, assisted in applying moulage to other mock patients during the live exercise.

"Overall the exercise will have 231 patients over the course of three days," said Gomez. "What we're doing is making this like as real of an experience as possible for the medics, doctors, nurses and first responders as possible."

Each mock patient is implemental in ensuring the nations get a true sense of what emergency situations may entail. Yet, the moulage training is also valuable to the medical students so they may apply what they learn even after the MEDCEUR 2009 is over.

"I think it is very good for our students. It is a nice exercise for us to learn a lot," said Dr. Danijela Velkov, Dr. Milenko Hadzic Medical School first aid and biochemistry teacher. "We don't have the same material. We make (moulage) ourselves by cooking, so when we see this equipment we say it is very nice."

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