Delaware National Guard - DNG News 2003 - Army & Air National Guard

MDS clinical nurse treats patient Capt. Matthew Donnelly, 166th Medical Squadron, Del. Air National Guard, and a clinical nurse from Newark, Del., checks vital signs on a mannequin during the 24-hour exercise. The mannequins, hooked up to electronic sensors, simulate patient response to injuries and treatments like a real human patient might.

The 166^th Medical Squadron of the 166^th Airlift Wing, Delaware Air National Guard deployed 24 medical professionals to work with 54 additional ANG colleagues from four other states for medical readiness training exercises held July 13 to 19 in Alpena, Mich., close to the northeastern shoreline of Lake Huron and Thunder Bay.

The ANG Alpena Medical Readiness Training Site is a high tech simulated patient and treatment environment, which has been training military medical professionals since 1990. It includes numerous mannequins hooked up to electronic displays and which are able to respond to injuries and treatments just like real world patients would.

Physicians, nurses, dentists, optometrists, a variety of medical technicians, and several health services management professionals in fields such as bioenvironmental and public health deployed.

Both the working medical tents and the sleeping tents are built on top of tons of trucked in sand to better approximate a southwest Asia deployment, but with medical training and simulations applicable both to desert environments and to treating people close to home.

The training took place in what is called an EMEDS +10 facility, which is an Expeditionary Medical Support facility that can treat and hold 10 patients in a modular field hospital contained within six "Alaska shelter" tents joined together.

Lt. Col. John Mulvey, commander of the 166^th Medical Squadron and a physician from Elkton, Md., said, "This is all about saving lives. The purpose of the exercise is to train our 166^th MDS professionals with the actual equipment they will use in their mission of homeland defense or alongside their active duty counterparts in time of war. Alpena is the only place in which Air National Guard members work in a realistic environment with the actual equipment we will use in time of war or national disaster."

MDS patient in ambulance 166th Medical Squadron, Del. Air National Guard airmen Senior Master Sgt. Ferguson, from Middletown, Del., and Master Sgt. David Myers, from Broomall, Pa., care for a simulated patient as part of their work for one of the patient recovery teams that finds patients in the field and transports them by ambulance to the medical facility for treatment.

Members had hands-on training and lectures, lots of planning before several exercise scenarios, and then the exercises themselves, which are the core-learning tool of the deployment.

A dozen blue-capped scenario observers gave further exercise input and evaluated responses.

To test their training, on Wednesday all members wore full chemical warfare suits with gas masks. They entered a confidence chamber where tear gas was released to test their ability to breathe and talk normally while being gassed.

Teams also went through a "walk-through" exercise to test their responses and planning before the full-scale patient simulations on Thursday.

"The whole purpose of our mission is to take what we learned all week and apply in an exercise mode Thursday," said Mulvey.

Scenarios ran for 24 hours, starting 7:30 a.m. Thursday through 7:30 a.m. Friday. After injuries were sustained in simulated attacks 20 miles away, the Command Post contacted a Survival Recovery Center, which contacts the Medical Command Center in the Expeditionary Medical Squadron (EMEDS) tents, which then alerts patient retrieval teams to pick up and transport patients back to the EMEDS. After picking up patients, the retrieval teams treat life-threatening injuries coming back to the EMEDS.

Throughout this exercise, "enemy" forces (Alpena Medical Readiness Training Site staff inspectors who specialize in these tactics) tried many times during the daytime and late at night to infiltrate the medical facilities and disrupt treatment. At one point, smoke, simulating a fire, billowed through the tents, forcing evacuation. This tested force protection awareness and reinforced proper responses to real-world dangers.

One airman said the exercise brought back feelings from his recent real-world deployment.

"This was a recapturing of the experiences I got from my deployment to Saudi [Arabia] and Iraq in support of [Operation] Iraqi Freedom," said Maj. Kenneth Williams, a flight surgeon from Trappe, Pa. "The atmosphere was real, and so were the mass casualty scenarios. The realism of this training confirmed that these trainings have a legitimate purpose, and will prepare individuals for real world events."

Lt. Col. John Cross, a staff dentist from Martinsville, N.J., said, "This was an excellent exercise. I learned more triage by observing during mass casualty section. Highlights were observing the group meet and function as a unit in a very short time. Amazing!"

Senior Master Sgt. Ron Ferguson, a medical services craftsman from Middletown, Del., and a full-time Delaware State trooper master corporal and flight paramedic, said "[It was a] great experience. This was my third and probably last time at Alpena. The war and patient exercise was realistic and worthwhile training. I was on the patient retrieval team and got first hand experience moving patients from the field to the EMEDS facility."

Several doctors deployed, and took home lessons learned from the exercises.

Capt. Gregory Khan-Arthur, a general practice physician from Brooklyn, N.Y., said, "As a doc, I manned the ER in the EMEDS [facility]. I treated many different patients during our simulated wartime scenario. I learned a lot about our Air Force's medical capabilities, got to work with talented, passionate people, and had the time of my life."

Capt. Swati Nigam, a general practice physician from Maple Shade, N.J., said, "As a physician, I began to understand more the complexities of treatment of war casualties and how difficult this can become if the medical unit doesn't work together."

Airmen enjoyed the facility and the chance to interact with many new faces from other units.

Lt. Col. Mary Sheridan, a clinical nurse from Wilmington, Del., said, "The EMEDS facility is very conductive to learning. Another part of the experience I always look forward to is blending with the other units and I feel we formed a very cohesive group."

Senior Airman Jennifer Wagner, a medical services specialist from Lavaca, Ark. said, "It was my first trip to Alpena. It was a great learning experience. I hope to go back in five years."

The field conditions required all military personnel to live in military "temper tents" for three days, with about 60 men sharing two tents and nearly 30 women in one tent. Airmen slept on cots using sleeping bags, and eating MREs (military meals-ready-to-eat sealed in plastic bags) for two of the days.

The 166^th Medical Squadron deploys for training to Alpena once every five years. The 166^th MDS deployed to this training site in 1994, 1998 and this year. Delaware is part of Federal Emergency Management Authority Region 3, which is comprised of Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. The 166^th MDS will be expected to respond within this EMEDS system with fellow members of neighboring states to any homeland defense disaster in the region.

Active duty Air Force medical professionals train at Brooks AFB, Texas, Air Force Reserve members train at Sheppard AFB, Texas, and Air National Guard medical professionals train at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Mich.

The 24 members of the 166^th Medical Squadron trained along with 42 members of the South Dakota Air National Guard's 114^th Medical Squadron, plus Air National Guard units from three other states (eight members from the Va. ANG 192^nd MDS, three from the Mont. ANG 120^th MDS and one from the Ohio ANG 179^th MDS).

MDS gas mask check after confidence chamber 2020th Medical Squadron members exit the confidence chamber where they were exposed to tear gas while wearing full Mission Oriented Protective Posture gear. An inspector checks each airman's oral responses to a set of questions.