Photo By 94th Airlift Wing | MIROSLAWIEC, Poland – Staff Sgt. Christy Hartley (right), Training Non-Commissioned...... read more read more
By Capt. Tonia A. Jordan
212th Combat Support Hospital Public Affairs
MIROSLAWIEC, Poland – The 212th Combat Support Hospital arrived in Poland and immediately began setting up the hospital and preparing the 160th Forward Support Surgical Team to provide medical support for Anakonda 16. One of the first priorities was to receive and integrate Soldiers from the 228th Combat Support Hospital, 176th Medical Brigade.
The 228th CSH is an Army Reserve Unit headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, between Camp Bullis and Fort Sam Houston. The 228th CSH has the capabilities of a field hospital that consists of 638 personnel that includes a Combat Stress Company and a FST.
The 228th CSH deployed 14 Soldiers to augment the 212th CSH in support of Anakonda 16 in Miroslawiec, Poland. The USAR members included 10 Medics, 2 licensed practical nurses, a physician assistant, and the Chief Nurse of the 228th CSH. They integrated into the 212th CSH seamlessly for their 20 days of annual training, a requirement for USAR Soldiers.
USAR units use a five-year training cycle. On the fifth year, they often mobilize throughout the world supporting military operations. For the last two years the 228th has been on multiple exercises that culminated with them joining the 212th CSH in support of Anakonda 16.
According to their Chief Nursing Officer, Lt. Col. Mahar-Garcia, “If we were at our home station, we would not be able to have an exercise close to the level of training that is being done here during ANAKONDA 16”.
Mahar-Garcia also stated that “working with the active duty CSH has taught the 228th CSH personnel things that we can implement into our CSH. I have also learned a lot from the 212th CSH’s Assistant Chief Nurse, Lt. Col. Marc Fry.”
The Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge for the 228th CSH is Staff Sgt. Christy Hartley. Hartley is an Active Guard Reserve (AGR) Soldier slotted as an Emergency Care NCO. She is the Training NCO during the week for over 300 members of the 228th CSH. However, during drill weekends she splits her time between the emergency medical treatment section and her training NCO responsibilities. She joined the 228th CSH in December and states that “in the nine and a half years of active duty this is my first experience with a Combat Support Hospital and I love the daily challenges.” One of the events that Hartley enjoyed during Anakonda 16 was learning how the trauma teams are organized and operate during the mass casualty exercise. She states that “trauma teams allow each individual on the team to focus on their task which reduces the chaos. The teams run smoothly and [the 228th CSH has] integrated well to them.”
One of the Five Pillars of Strong Europe is the integration of the Guard and Army Reserve forces into U.S. Army Europe achieving interoperability and capability in Europe.
“Integrating the 228th CSH within the 212th CSH during Anakonda 16 provided us with the opportunity to build a strong relationship and understanding of our Army Reserve teammates and I think both units have benefited from the great training opportunity,” said Col. Brian D. Almquist, Hospital Commander of 212th CSH.
| Date Taken: | 06.07.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.17.2016 06:05 |
| Story ID: | 207383 |
| Location: | MIROSLAWIEC, PL |
| Web Views: | 325 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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