Photo By Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield | SAN MARCOS, Guatemala – U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jerry Cunningham supply noncommissioned...... read more read more
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U.S. Soldiers from Task Force Red Wolf and Guatemalan emergency workers came together May 14, 2016 at the Universidad Da Vinci De Guatemala for a training exercise to practice search and rescue drills in case of a volcanic eruption.
Task Force Red Wolf is here as the lead group charged with constructing three clinics, two schools and providing as much humanitarian relief as possible to the Guatemalan people.
“His training exercise was realistic,” said Isabel Lopez, Universidad Da Vinci De Guatemala student. “It really drives the point home that this sort of thing can happen at any time and you need to be prepared. I remember when we had a severe earthquake and because my family had some fresh fruit and water saved it made the disaster more bearable.”
The exercise started with a brief explanation of the eruption warning signals and the recommended path that rescuers should take while attending to the injured by Meilina Lopez, Universidad Da Vinci De Guatemala lead nurse. She said, that the first signal meant that an eruption was eminent, the second signal was that the eruption was taking place and the third was for the students to evacuate and the rescuers to begin.
Promptly after the sounding of the third signal the screams of the simulated injured echoed through the campus. Then like a wave of professional calm and reassurance the multinational force of rescuers started searching the classroom and moving injured to the triage location for further examination.
“I really didn’t know what to expect when I first got here,” said 1st Lt. Julie Norris, 213th Medical Company nurse practitioner. So, I let things playout for a minute and then jumped in where I was needed until the last patient was seen and transported to the hospital and it was an amazing experience.”
The exercise lasted the majority of two hours and in that two hours 6 casualties were transported to the hospital via ambulance and others were able to get there on their own. At the end, everyone sighed a breath of relief to a job well down.
“Overall, the exercise went well. The rescuers did a fine job finding and bringing all the casualties up to us and we worked hard to get them triaged, treated and sent to the hospital. The Guatemalans had a plan for this type of event and we were able to fall into place and help provide a service."
Maybe the biggest takeaway from this training exercise isn’t that two great countries can work together but, it’s having a plan and practicing it.
“Having a plan and practicing it helps you be prepared for if the real thing happens,” said Norris. “Like the saying goes expect the best and plan for the worst.”
| Date Taken: | 05.14.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.14.2016 19:55 |
| Story ID: | 198116 |
| Location: | GT |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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