‘Golden Medic’ busy time for Aeromeds

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey S. Williams
  • Golden Medic Public Affairs
He stood in front of the Alaska-style tents that comprised the 706th Provisional contingency aeromedical support facility on a humid Georgia summer afternoon. As was the case with most deployments, there were hours of nothingness sandwiched between an hour of excitement. This was one of those times when there wasn't a whole lot going on. The staff was caught up in their duties, the patients stabilized and awaiting transportation, and the paperwork finished. For Col. James Patterson, 932nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron commander, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., it looked as if it would be a routine afternoon in a deployed environment.

However, as it turned out, nothing would become routine at the Golden Medic Exercise 2007 at the Augusta Regional Airport - Bush Field, Ga.

"Helos inbound carrying two, three mikes out," crackled the radio.

The CASF immediately became a flurry of activities as surgeons and technicians prepared themselves at their stations, while the rest of the staff prepared to off-load the patients from a UH-1 Huey helicopter of the Army's 832nd Medical Company Air Ambulance Detachment 1.

Less than two minutes later, the helicopter touched down and two four-man litter crews retrieved the patients, as Master Sgt. Carlos Rosado, 932nd ASTS medical technician, kept their paths clear for entrance into the facility.

No sooner than the CASF staff had their first patients checked in, an Army ambulance pulled up while two more helicopters touched down at the bustling facility to off-load yet another wave of patients.

"We receive incoming patients and hold them for further transportation," Colonel Patterson said. "Patients are stabilized and prepared for transportation to a hospital outside the theater where they have access to better medical care. We can hold patients here for up to 72 hours."

"Our troops are aggressive in their training and reoccurring CASF certification. Sixty percent of the available staff here at Golden Medic have deployed at some time, so this is just practicing what we know," he added.

There were several times when the CASF was extremely busy during Golden Medic. At the very end of the exercise, ambulances and busses brought in the wounded awaiting transportation. A C-130 and C-17 were loaded simultaneously, and a helicopter had two patients loaded directly onto the C-130 - all within a half hour.

"I'm extremely impressed with the number of airframes, helicopters, CASF and EMEDS here at Golden Medic," said Lt. Col. Ann Lewandowski, 920th ASTS, Patrick AFB, Fla., and veteran of two deployments to Southwest Asia. "It's as close to reality as you can get for a simulation - working in a joint environment with the Army, inbound helicopters and airlift on real aircraft."

Senior Airman Victoria Findley, 932nd ASTS diet technician, Scott AFB, Ill., didn't know what to expect before the exercise kicked off, but was quite impressed with the CASF accomplishments when it ended.

"It was really awesome how everyone pulled together to complete the mission," she said. "I expected this to be similar to the exercise at Sheppard Air Force Base during CASF training, but it was on a much larger scale."

Master Sgt. Carlos Rosado, 932nd ASTS medical technician, had been through exercises like this before, including when he was in Korea.

"All of our classroom training has prepared us for what we needed to do for this exercise," Sergeant Rosado said. "There was a lot of energy. It was exhausting, but it was also a lot of fun."

(This article is part three of a three-part series.)