COL. ERNESTO RAVINA AIR BASE, Philippines — U.S. Navy medical officers and corpsmen with Shock Trauma Platoon, Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducted pediatric malady training here, during Amphibious Landing Exercise 33 (PHIBLEX 33) recently.

“We covered pediatric trauma resuscitation and blood testing to detect maladies,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Sheep, officer-in-charge of Shock Trauma Platoon, CLB-31, 31st MEU. “One of the things we enjoy about PHIBLEX is interacting with the local children. We want to be able to respond appropriately to all trauma scenarios when they do come up, including pediatric cases.”

The day’s training included a review of different injuries and illnesses children are susceptible to, as well as blood testing procedures and medical examinations to quickly pinpoint different maladies that can affect child patients. Sheep also discussed with the hospital corpsmen the anatomical differences between children and adults and how that knowledge can be applied in specific trauma situations. Medical personnel have to take into account how medication, fluid and blood doses are different in children, and how children respond differently than adults to specific treatments.

“This training absolutely benefits the Shock Trauma Platoon,” Sheep said. “We want to have the widest possible applicability of medical care to both adults and children. We want to be able to treat anyone who comes through our facility at any time for anything, and in a humanitarian assistance or disaster relief scenario, we are more likely to have pediatric casualties than adult casualties.”

The Shock Trauma Platoon Sailors also conducted scenario-based training with their Philippine Marine counterparts during PHIBLEX 33, based on three common trauma injuries: penetrating trauma resulting in massive blood-loss; airway-compromising burns; and lung abnormalities caused by penetrating trauma. According to Sheep, the Philippine marines partnered with the corpsmen, and then the platoon was split into two teams to see who could perform the fastest resuscitation.

“Everyone had a good time, and the Philippine marines certainly enjoyed being a part of the training,” Sheep said. “We gain experience from working with the Philippine Marines, they bring different scenarios to the table. They get to see how we do things, and it’s also just really fun to build camaraderie with our Philippine counterparts.”

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