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Medical Airmen Perform Tactically
by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Tony Harp
August 19, 2019
Two Airmen drag a simulated casualty across the ground to the
safety of cover, one of them returning fire with his M4 carbine. The
casualty has at least two visible wounds, but their main concern is
falling back to a location where they can safely begin to treat
their patient.
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May 21, 2019 - U.S. Airmen from
the 193rd Special Operations Medical Group Detachment 1,
Pennsylvania Air National Guard, move a casualty to cover
during Tactical Combat Casualty Care training at Annville,
Pennsylvania. The TCCC training was a two-day training event
that provided Airmen with the fundamentals of treating and
evacuating casualties in a combat environment. (U.S. Air
National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Tony Harp)
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Once the Airmen reach cover and the threat is deemed neutralized
by the NCO in charge of training, they quickly begin to evaluate and
treat the patient. As this is going on, other members of their team
are searching for casualties, treating their wounds and preparing
for evacuation. The remaining Airmen are providing 360-degree
security as the former work.
This is the field training
portion of the Tactical Combat Casualty Care course, which
challenges the medical Airmen to provide emergency, battlefield
trauma care. The training allows for Airmen to put in place their
medical training while operating tactically and responding to enemy
threats.
“I think in our very nature we just want to help
people, and it’s kind of hard to do that when people are shooting at
you or throwing grenades,” said Airman 1st Class Josue Gerena, a
medic with the 193rd Special Operations Medical Group Detachment 1.
Approximately 33 Airmen from the 193rd SOMDG Det 1 conducted the
two-day TCCC course May 20-21 at Fort Indiantown Gap.
“It’s a
two-day course designed to get any Airman or any member of the
Department of Defense ready to provide medical care in a tactical
situation and get those patients back to better, higher-echelon
care,” said 1st Lt. Brendan Dougherty, an emergency trauma nurse
with the 193rd SOMDG Det 1.
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May 21, 2019 - U.S. Airmen from
the 193rd Special Operations Medical Group Detachment 1,
Pennsylvania Air National Guard, perform medical treatment
on a casualty during Tactical Combat Casualty Care training
at Annville, Pennsylvania. The TCCC training provides Airmen
with the fundamentals of treating and evacuating casualties
in a combat environment. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by
Staff Sgt. Tony Harp)
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Airmen spent the first day of training conducting classroom
lectures and instructions, while the second day there were practical
exercises and scenarios in a simulated, tactical environment.
“The basic principles of TCCC start with three phases,” said
Dougherty. “There is care under fire, when you directly make contact
with the enemy. There’s tactical field care, where you are providing
that medical care in the field. And there is the tactical evacuation
care, which is getting that person out and providing care en route
with them.”
The 193rd SOMDG Det 1 Airmen are assigned to the
3rd Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Task Force, out of
Fort Indiantown Gap, and provide medical support during disaster
relief efforts.
“With the CBRN Task Force, this training
allows us to have a lot of those extra skills for our Airmen to be
able to be in a setting where they have very limited resources,”
said Dougherty. “It’s very realistic if we were to go on a
real-world event and we would not have those resources available to
us when we arrived. So for those Airmen to be able to critically
think and treat the patients with the gear they have, it’s pretty
substantial training for us.”
“The final scenarios that we do
are made to be a full patient care scenario in the tactical
environment,” said Dougherty. “With the help of the 148th Air
Support Operations Squadron, we set a patient scenario in which
there were downed Soldiers that our Airmen were going to rescue.
They were inserted on the tactical vehicles, patrolled to find the
patients, did take some fire that they adequately managed, they gave
the patients the help they needed, and then called for evacuation
and provided that care in the tactical vehicles.”
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May 21, 2019 - U.S. Airmen from
the 193rd Special Operations Medical Group Detachment 1,
Pennsylvania Air National Guard, evacuate a casualty into
the back of a Humvee during Tactical Combat Casualty Care
training at Annville, Pennsylvania. The TCCC training
provides Airmen with the fundamentals of treating and
evacuating casualties in a combat environment. (U.S. Air
National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Tony Harp)
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“This training is really crucial for everyone in the Department
of Defense, because you never know when you are in that situation
where you might need to save someone’s life,” said Dougherty.
“Learning these skills is what’s going to make the difference
between potentially your friend, or another Soldier, Airmen, Marine
or Sailor living or dying.”
Gerena is a police officer in his
civilian job. He believes this training will help him on both sides
of his career, and he enjoyed the hands-on portion of the training
the most.
“I was really happy with all the hands-on training
because it kind of drives it all home,” said
Gerena. “You can only sit through theory and lecture so much with it
sticking, but that hands-on and going out there and seeing how
things can turn from bad to worse, keeping your cool and just going
on the fly, is much appreciated.”
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