Guard Helps Reserve MPs Create Realistic Lifesaving Training

October 12, 2012
By SFC Clint Wood
Starke, FL, United States

Army Reserve Soldiers reached out to their National Guard brothers- and sisters-in-arms to execute a cumulative training exercise on July 20 at Camp Blanding, FL, that could save lives.

The Florida Army National Guard's C Company, 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment of Cecil Field in Jacksonville, FL, provided an HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter in order to teach the more than 50 Soldiers of the 320th Military Police Company of St. Petersburg, FL, the ins and outs of medical evacuations.

A few of the Soldiers, including Private First Class Jonathan Reveron, played "casualties" and witnessed the evacuation from start to finish.

"I basically got to watch everybody do their job and see how everything coordinates, from the aid and litter team to the team that is in the helicopter, and how in tune everybody has to be," said Reveron, a grocery store chain warehouse worker who has been a military policeman for 15 months.

The medevac operation was the finale of a weeklong premobilization training that saw the Soldiers (nicknamed the "Bulldogs"), who are slated to deploy to Southwest Asia, undergo several training events, including a Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer, a Countering Improvised Explosive Devices course, a tactical road march, tactical convoy mission training, and Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills.

The medevac operation not only gave the Soldiers an opportunity to be a "casualty," but also to call in a nine-line medevac request and be on four-man litter teams.

C Company was the last medevac unit to leave Iraq during Operation New Dawn on Dec. 18, 2011.

"It is always a pleasure training with units that are deploying overseas," said First Sergeant Wilfredo Figueroa, flight paramedic for the company and instructor for the day.

Company commander Captain Douglas A. Worstell said this training was seamless because of the past 10 years of deployments and having to work with the National Guard while mobilized.

"Our National Guard brothers welcome any combined training with the [Army] Reserve because it also hones their skills and builds a lasting relationship, especially because we are both located in the same state," said Worstell.

Figueroa was impressed with how seriously the Soldiers took the exercise.

"They safely carried patients to and from the aircraft and observed all of the safety requirements that were discussed during the administrative brief," he said.

Private First Class Guillermo Arguelles said he liked the exercise because he learned as a litter bearer how to place the litter correctly into the helicopter's metal pans in order to lock it into place.

"I didn't realize how powerful the wind was when you get off," added Arguelles, who has been a military policeman for 15 months and a server as a civilian.

Specialist Leah Vice of Lehigh Acres, FL, a signal support specialist and server, was able to call in a nine-line medevac request for the first time.

She admitted that her adrenaline was flowing.

"I'm more of a hands-on person, so now I know how it it supposed to be played out if I do need to call and what to expect," said Vice, who has been in the Army Reserve for three years.

Regarding expectations, Figueroa's brief that started the several-hour exercise told the Soldiers and 45 of their fellow Soldiers who were enrolled in a three-day Combat Lifesaver Course what to expect in real-world situations.

He told the attendees, who included combat medics from the Army Reserve's 812th Military Police Company of Orangeburg, NY, that in most evacuations, a combat medic does not call in the nine-line medevac request so everyone should know how to do this.

He also noted that as a flight paramedic, things he would like to know include if a patient is stable or unstable, if special equipment such as a hoist will be needed, and specifically how the landing zone will be marked. For example, what color is the smoke?

Figueroa also told the Soldiers that multiple tourniquets work.

"Do whatever you can do to stop the bleeding," he said.

The Soldiers were also told to ensure that the casualties are wearing ear and eye protection and are carrying no weapons or ammunition.

Figueroa also informed the Soldiers that the casualties with the most life-threatening injuries are treated first. This includes the enemy.

"We're Americans, we treat everybody," he stated.

Figueroa concluded his brief by having four Soldiers practice carrying a litter with a "casualty." He offered several pointers, including not to run; lift as a team counting off "one, two, three" with the lift being on "three;" and ensuring that when walking away from the helicopter, each Soldier wraps his or her arms around others' shoulders as they walk back.

Worstell told the Soldiers the reason for this after the exercise.

The bottom line is that Soldiers would not be able to see each other because of debris being kicked up from a helicopter's rotor wash, said Worstell.

He emphasized to the Soldiers the importance of understanding the limitations of a medevac, especially downrange. He pointed out that this landing zone was cleared out and in a cantonment area.

Figueroa commented that all the procedures the Soldiers learned, including litter team drills, the packaging of a patient and what to expect when a helicopter is landing, make a medevac more efficient.

"The goal is to save a life," he said.