Photo By Capt. Robert Gallimore | Maj. Gustavo Moreno, the commander of the 160th Forward Surgical Team, 212th Combat...... read more read more
MIESAU, Germany – It was a great opportunity for German and American medics to learn about each other’s medical capabilities and equipment, and it opened the door for continued partnership.
The 160th Forward Surgical Team of the 212th Combat Support Hospital, 30th Medical Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command conducted an interoperability exercise with 10 soldiers from the Bundeswehr Operational Medical Support Command March 9-12 at Miesau Ammo Depot.
“This exercise was a good way to showcase our capabilities and for them to integrate into how we operate, and vice versa,” said Sgt. Daniel Dela Cruz, a medic who runs 160th’s advanced trauma life support section.
While the German military maintains an entity similar to the American combat support hospital, it doesn’t have a precise equivalent to the FST. The exercise was aimed at helping the German team to construct a similar forward surgical capability.
“It is wonderful to learn the FST and see how tactical and combat medicine works,” said German Navy Commander Elias Al-Ghabra, who played an important role in the exercise.
The Bundeswehr Operational Medical Support Command came to the exercise with an anesthesiologist, two anesthesiology assistants, three operating room techs, two surgeons, a logistics officer and a medical planning sergeant major.
The German team was a mix of Air Force, Navy and Army personnel, who came from various parts of the country, including Hamburg, Koblenz, Ulm, Berlin and Weissenfels.
The American unit provided a thorough brief on the organizational structure and mission of an FST. Led by Maj. Gustavo Moreno, a commander with extensive experience and expertise as an emergency room nurse, the 160th proved ideally suited to the combined training mission.
Each member of the FST familiarized his or her German counterpart on his role in the unit. The teams triaged, stabilized, surgically intervened and post-operatively recovered simulated patients.
The teams learned about one another’s equipment through hands-on demonstrations and training. To this end, American and the German teams set up fully-functional trauma bays side-by-side.
The medics from the two countries also exchanged best clinical practices and identified redundancies and other operational challenges. They exercised patient care and flow scenarios.
The allies learned through differences as well as similarities in technique. One difference lay in the German medical team’s customary reliance on buildings and modular containers; the FST is capable of setting up anywhere using its own tents and gear. While medical care procedures are essentially the same, the German team was eager to train and replicate the expeditionary capability as well as the ability to operate in an austere environment.
Al-Ghabra said he was so impressed with the exercise he extended an invitation to 160th personnel to visit his unit and integrate with them.
“Training like this should definitely continue so we can work anywhere, anytime under one system,” he said.
Before departing for their home station, the Bundeswehr team, led by German Air Force surgeon Col. Andre Lieber, presented 160th personnel with a special gift: a plaque signed by Maj. Gen. Stephan Schoeps, the German Air Force surgeon general.
Organizers described the event as very successful. The relationships built during the exercise, they added, will bridge rapid response global medical interoperability between U.S. partners and allies in order to support the mission requirements of any combatant commander -- and a “Strong Europe.”
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2015 15:32 |
| Story ID: | 158208 |
| Location: | MIESAU, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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