386th AEW Joint Mass Casualty Exercise
U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY -- The base alert signal crackles and screams “Alarm Red!” You rush to the nearest bunker. After what seems like an eternity, you finally get the go-ahead to sweep the area — but to your surprise, there are wounded everywhere. What do you do?
This scenario unfolded during a mass casualty exercise at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. First responders from the 386th Expeditionary Medical Squadron, 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron and 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron collaborated with U.S. Army combat medics from the 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, and medics from Canadian Armed Forces in a simulated emergency scenario in response to multiple casualties.
Capt. Eric Juneau, Canadian Armed Forces medical officer, said the exercise was designed to test real-world readiness.
“We’re doing an exercise to simulate a mass casualty event in order to help prepare both the Canadian personnel and the American personnel on how to respond — from first aid in the field all the way up to hospital care,” Juneau said.
He added that the training helps both nations identify gaps before a real event occurs.
“The threat in this region can evolve rapidly and unpredictably,” Juneau said. “By practicing the unique procedures of a mass casualty event, we can be ready for when these stressful situations occur and figure out what areas went well and what areas need some work from a training and resource perspective.”
The exercise began with simulated incoming fire and an alarm red. Once cleared, medics and firefighters assessed, prioritized and treated more than 20 mock patients, who were sorted according to the severity of their injuries. Patients were transported to the medical facility for further care.
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Taylor Lineburg, 386th EMDS medical technician and exercise coordinator, emphasizes the interoperability the scenario brought between multiple units, including security forces, firefighters, Canadian medics and Army combat medics.
“The expectation was mostly about response times and how everyone would react,” Lineburg said. “You can put people in a classroom all day, but experience is the actual test — how are you going to respond whenever it actually happens?”
Lineburg reinforces the importance of repetition these trainings can bring to real-world scenarios.
“We needed everybody to be up to speed and to have a similar experience so whenever this actually happens, nobody’s freezing or blanking on what to do,” Lineburg said.
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Baichen Mei, 386th EMDS medical technician, emphasizes the sense of urgency at the casualty collection point after fire crews cleared the area.
“When I got there, I helped check up on the delayed and immediate patients, added interventions, did some secondary assessments myself and helped move a couple patients,” Mei said. “Then we got them into the ambulance and brought them back here.”
The 386th First Responders and the Canadian Armed Forces medics plan to review lessons learned from the exercise to improve coordination and communications.
“There’s a lot of people involved in making this exercise happen,” Juneau said. “Everyone did a really good job and worked really well together, and it’s just a reminder of the strong bonds between the Canadian and American forces.”