Photo By Staff Sgt. Erik Warren | Chaplains and chaplain’s assistants of 2nd Infantry Artillery, discuss how they...... read more read more
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A helicopter crashes while over Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The aircraft goes down in a parking lot.
An unknown number of Soldiers and Airmen are among the burning wreckage.
Police and fire services work the hectic and busy crash site as expected but alongside them are chaplains.
Religious Support Teams, consisting of chaplains and chaplain’s assistants, reviewed their roles during an emergency situation and updated their standard operating procedure during emergency response training April 6 inside the Lewis Main North Chapel JBLM.
"We are helping our chaplains and chaplain’s assistants understand what their roles and responsibilities are in the context of a serious incident like a mass casualty or natural disaster," said Col. Marc Gauthier, JBLM garrison chaplain. "Among other things they would provide assistance to casualties while on the scene and continue into the hospitals helping families."
The RST's learned how disasters are managed during presentations from the Emergency Operations Center and Department of Emergency Services.
Later, a panel of senior leaders who worked through real-world emergencies such as the Fort Hood shooting in 2008, a downed aircraft on Fort Bragg in 1994 and the Oso Washington landslide in 2014 shared first-hand experiences of what they learned.
The room also split up into their separate units and "war-gamed" how they would respond and assist in emergency operations.
RSTs provide counseling, support and religious services for casualties, families and emergency service workers.
Staff Sgt. Jill Hermsen, the noncommissioned officer of the training, said that a SOP is a living document and this training allowed them to update theirs and keep the RSTs prepared to respond a crisis at a moments notice.
"I chose this job because I am fulfilled by helping others," said Spc. Kayla Cole, a Chaplains Assistant, 22nd Military Police, Criminal Investigation Command. "Because of this training, I feel much more confident that if my unit was called to respond to a crisis I would know what to do."
| Date Taken: | 04.06.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2017 15:21 |
| Story ID: | 229606 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 74 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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