Medical readiness excercise tests Moody's 'first responders'

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Parker Gyokeres
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (ACCNS) --  Moody Airmen put their skills to the test with a no-notice mass casualty exercise July 26 that realistically recreated the scene of a plane crash.

The exercise was designed to surprise, challenge and exhaust the emergency responders in order to discover their unknown weaknesses, said Bill Hebert, 23rd Medical Group chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological and explosives medical readiness planner. The scenario included several different human effects, including chemical contamination, mentally unstable victims and the overall confusion of mass casualties.

"We deliberately pushed the teams until they made mistakes, then we did our best to exploit them," he said. "This is what makes exercises such effective training. The way the medical group performed under unexpected pressure clearly identified key issues (on which) each team can improve."

Staging a realistic accident scene took lots of 23rd Wing coordination, said Mr. Hebert. The 820th Security Forces Group supplied medical technicians who specialize in moulage, or fake wounds. The 336th Recruiting Squadron supplied a small demonstration F-16 to serve as a crashed aircraft. Both the 23rd Civil Engineer Squadron Emergency Services Flight and the 23rd Security Forces Squadron also sent representatives to serve in roles they would perform in an actual crisis.

The exercise began with a simulated collision of two F-16s over Moody. The scenario called for one aircraft to impact a parking lot behind the commissary and the other to crash into a large store downtown.

"The downtown crash was to essentially fill the off-base hospitals and force the 23rd Medical Group to treat all patients they encountered without transporting them," said Mr. Hebert. "Our day-to-day mission is to operate a clinic and transport serious cases downtown, but this situation showed the medical teams they need to be prepared to handle any crisis, no matter how large."

With this input from the exercise evaluation team, Team Moody was essentially on its own. As medical teams arrived at the crash scene, they were met by the sight of moulaged bodies scattered across the parking lot and the shrill cries of pleading victims.

Volunteer Airmen from the 23rd MDG were moulaged as crash victims with wounds ranging from severe burns to chest wounds. These wounds are likely to be the same ones seen in an actual aircraft accident, said Mark Soliz, 23rd MDG training manager.

"The role players screaming for help in the crash scene were so realistic, they generated a real-world 911 call from the Commissary," said Mr. Soliz. "They played it to the max."

With one crisis after another occurring for the next three hours, exercise evaluators threw everything they had at the 23rd MDG, said Mr. Hebert. Some examples included chemically-contaminated patients walking into the clinic, a fatal shooting and hostage drama, and an emergency responder breaking down in the middle of a contaminated "hot zone," trying to rip off her suit while covered in an unknown white powder.

"These events tested the group's ability to come up with flexible, smart solutions to unusual problems," he added. "Some tests they passed and some processes were identified for further practice in another exercise."

This was the point of the training, said Master Sgt. Katherine Mathew, 23rd MDG education and training NCO in-charge.

"The group did very well at regrouping and coming together as a team," she said. "No matter the stress or heat, my Airmen never complained, they just dug in and got back to work. Mistakes were made, but that's what exercises are for; to learn from our mistakes and provide more effective care for our patients."

The planners and evaluators understand that in order to improve patient care they must sacrifice valuable time to provide it, said Mr. Hebert.

"We are aware that holding a day-long exercise like this reduces an already limited number of available appointments," he added. "But in order for us to provide the level of care our customers expect in an emergency, the medical group simply must take the time to practice. It's a case of a little pain now can prevent a real tragedy later."