Exercise portion of Golden Medic in full swing

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Williams
  • Golden Medic Public Affairs
AUGUSTA, GA --  The exercise portion of Golden Medic 2007, the Army Reserve's largest annual medical exercise, is now in full swing after nearly a week of classroom training and site preparations. The exercise started Friday afternoon.

More than 400 Airmen from active duty, guard and reserve units, set up a base at the Augusta Regional Airport-Bush Field, with an additional 68 Airmen joining the 3,000 Soldiers at nearby Fort Gordon for training activities and the exercise.

Golden Medic is designed to test the ability of Army and Air Force medical units in facilitating the transfer of patients from the field of battle to a well-equipped regional hospital outside the theater. Now in its 13th year participation, the Air Force component of the exercise has grown from a 25-person support team to an active role and nearly 500 Airmen.

The patient movement system begins immediately after someone becomes a casualty. "Medics and corpsmen are the first on scene to give the initial evaluation and stabilization," said Master Sgt. Danny Glover, 169th Medical Group, South Carolina Air National Guard aerospace medical craftsman. "The casualty is then transported to a mobile field hospital, either an Army combat support hospital or Air Force expeditionary medical support facility."

The EMEDS is equipped to provide mobile field surgery, sick call, handle round-the-clock medical care, with a 10-bed recovery ward. "Our Airmen maintain great attitude, but it will be a real test to see how well they perform under pressure when the patients arrive," said Sergeant Glover, who is working as an international health specialist during hte exercise. "I'm especially interested in seeing our Airmen work in a joint environment with the Soldiers. Communication between the two services will be a key to our success."

After EMEDS, the patient is transported to the contingency aeromedical staging facility either by ambulance or UH-1 Huey helicopter. The patient's condition is assessed at the CASF for long-range transportation to a base outside the theater.

"We're basically a holding company," said Col. James Patterson, 932nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron commander, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. "Our job is to prepare the patient for further transportation. In the operational environment, casualties are airlifted from Southwest Asia to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where the CASF will ensure patient transportation to and from Landstuhl Medical Center, Germany."

For the exercise, patients will come from Fort Gordon and be airlifted to and from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., to fulfill the long-range transportation requirement, said Colonel Patterson. "During the exercise, we are expecting to encounter different scenarios including chemical attacks, night landing, aircraft loading, mentally unstable patients, and certainly challenges like unexpected power outages and mass casualties," he said. "This is practicing what we know. Sixty percent of our available staff have deployed, some multiple times."

For Senior Airman Victoria Findley, 932nd ASTS dietary technician, despite all of the training and certifications, every exercise is a new challenge and learning opportunity.

"I don't even know what to expect," she said. "But we come prepared, and we'll do our best to accomplish the mission. We just have to be flexible and adapt to changes. It can become hectic, but if everyone does his or her job, we'll get through it okay."

Proper command and control coordination from the contingency response element, formerly the tanker airlift control center or TALCE, enables both the EMEDS and CASF to function effectively. CRE tracks the various aircraft and facilitate a smooth transition between the medical units and aircraft.

"We provide the command and control link among all of the players and the Air Force Reserve Command," said Senior Master Sgt. Steve Crook, 94th Airlift Control Flight superintendent, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. "The key players in the exercise look to us for information on inbound and outbound aircraft so they can coordinate their missions with the aircraft flight schedule in order to keep missions running on time."

The CRE is involved in the exercise because of the lack of military presence at Bush Field, Sergeant Crook said. The mobile command and control unit can be deployed anywhere around the world in 36 hours and be self-sufficient for up to 30 days.

"We're anticipating a few bumps at first but it will smooth out," he said. "We expect any bumps at kick off to be resolved immediately. We're going to be as flexible as possible."

Master Sgt. Carlos Rosado, 932nd ASTS med tech, a veteran of numerous overseas deployments including a tour in Iraq, summed up his expectations for the exercise and Golden Medic.

"All of our classroom training has prepared us for what we need to do for this exercise," Sergeant Rosado said. "This training is invaluable. When you deploy, you're going to wish you were here to learn how to load that aircraft or put up that tent. Other than the combat zone, where in the world are you going to go to get this type of training? This is a phenomenal opportunity."