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379 AEW hones skills with MARE

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jeff Loftin
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Members from nearly every unit on base participated in a major accident response exercise here July 28. 

The goals of the exercise were to hone the skills of first responders and to practice incident command and control. About 500 people from organizations across the base were involved in the exercise which simulated an aircraft mishap resulting in one Airman "killed" and 24 "injured." 

"One of the goals was to overload the medical system, and to force them to triage their patients and set priorities," said Maj. Johnny Helm, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing deputy chief of wing plans, deployed here from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. 

The medical group rose to the challenge, according to Lt. Col. Herbert Scott, 379th Expeditionary Medical Group deputy commander. 

"Medical personnel responded quickly to triage the patients and determine who needed care most urgently," he said. "All patients were transported to the right level of care which included the 379th EMDG as well as host nation facilities. In particular, this exercise showed for the first time ever how all the various means of transportation, including civilian and military air evacuation, could be used here." 

Colonel Scott said he was pleased with the medical group's response to the challenges of the mass casualty exercise. 

"The greatest benefit of the exercise was to allow the entire staff of the 379 EMDG to work together to handle a mass casualty," said the Shalimar, Fla., native. "Considering the number of home base units represented within the hospital, practicing as one team ensures everyone will always exceed expectations in the preservation of life and limb if a real world event occurs. 

"The exercise did show a few areas to improve communication and tracking of patients through the continuum of care," he said. "The events provided valuable insight as we consider the various means of patient transport used to deliver patients to multiple facilities." 

The exercise was also valuable practice for the command and control structure.
"One challenge we faced was to complete the process of changing from the old Disaster Control Group, Survival Recovery Center and Battle Staff roles we previously held," said Master Sgt. James Martin, 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron readiness and emergency management flight chief, deployed from Yokota Air Base, Japan. "We are now implementing the Air Force Incident Management System throughout the Air Force and this is a big change for us." 

Sergeant Martin is in charge of the emergency managers, which played a large role in the exercise. 

"Our leadership gave us some new direction to improve our response," said the New York City, N.Y., native. "This was an excellent opportunity for us to practice communicating with units, accounting for our personnel and assets and working together as a team. As we say in emergency management, the last thing you want to be doing is exchanging business cards at the scene of a disaster." 

Overall, the exercise proved a success, said Major Helm. 

"I think the exercise went very well," he said. "We definitely learned some lessons, which was the goal. Overall I think we're well prepared to handle any accident that might happen on the base." 

Major Helm said these types of exercises are conducted periodically with varying scenarios. 

"I think it was good training for all the people involved from all the different groups," said the Coahoma, Texas, native. "They got the training they wanted. We will use it to improve our response and make this base a safer place."