AL UDEID AIR BASE, Southwest Asia -- When service members in remote locations need critical immediate medical support such as surgery, Mobile Forward Surgical Team/Expeditionary Critical Care Airmen are there to provide all the support they can.
MFST/ECCT teams play a critical role on a daily basis by supporting the medical facility they are assigned to and provide medical support in the Central Command Area of Responsibility, and most importantly of all, save lives when called upon.
“We are a rapid response medical, surgical and critical care team that is able to give medical and surgical support in any situation where a patient needs surgery or any other type of critical care,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Ryan Earnest, 379th MFST/ECCT team lead.
While supporting exercise Eager Lion, an annual exercise in Jordan designed to strengthen interoperability between multinational forces, the MFST/ECCT team was called upon to save a soldier's life.
When a British soldier was found having severe respiratory distress in the middle of the night, the MFST/ECCT team picked up their ready-to-go medical gear, and rushed to the site to do what they do best.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Erin Mai, 379th Expeditionary Medical Group physician, lead the MFST/ECCT team through the code blue, a description of a medical emergency where the patient’s heart stops beating and they stop breathing.
As soon as the team arrived on site, all of their training kicked in and they fulfilled their individual jobs and worked together to bring the soldier back to life and stabilize him for transportation to Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein Military Hospital.
“Once we got there, we took over the situation. I ran the code and everybody else had a specific job to do to work together as a team.” Mai said.
“To start, the respiratory tech, took over the airway using a temporary device, I placed an intraosseous line directly into his tibia, the nurse started to get an IV line, Maj Connally took over CPR, and Dr. Earnest assisted with the medications and helped me set up a definitive airway by putting a breathing tube directly it.”
After the team was able to bring him back to life, they transported him to the field medical tent in the U.S. camp for a full physical, laboratory assessment, placement of a large central venous line, and to prepare him for an airlift to the hospital.
After a couple of days, the MFST/ECCT team was informed that the soldier was breathing on his own and made a full recovery.
“We practice multiple times a week and everything happened quickly and smoothly with no big flaws, which is a pretty big deal since we weren't in the most ideal conditions,” Mai said.
The MFST/ECCT team was recognized and coined by Maj. Gen. Rick Mattson, U.S. Central Command Exercises and Training director, for their accomplishment.