Photo By Master Gunnery Sgt. Matt Epright | A Marine with Combat Logistics Battalion 22, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, carries a...... read more read more
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By Lance Cpl. Justin M. Martinez
FORT PICKETT, Va. - A terrorist sets off a bomb. Torn bodies lay scattered in a field. Those who weren't killed instantly are severely injured or in shock. Help is needed desperately -- it's time to send in the Marines, and especially, the corpsmen.
Selected Marines and sailors with Combat Logistics Battalion 22 and Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, spent three days and nights training each other how to conduct a massive casualty operation in a hostile environment during off-site training aboard Fort Pickett, Va., a Virginia Army National Guard Maneuver Training Center.
The first scenario kicked off with the members from the BLT playing the roles of the injured while CLB service members carried out the mission of the mass casualty drill.
The primary focus of the mass casualty exercise was to have several components work together to successfully complete a life-saving mission.
"The main objective of this was to have everybody understand what their roles were," said 1st Lt. Duane Gross, the communications officer for CLB-22 from Algiers, La., who served as the CLB officer in charge for the exercise. "We have three separate sections that have roles. We have the security element, medical element, and headquarters element."
While the headquarters element coordinates activity on scene and the security element provides 360-degree security, the medical element begins evaluating patients.
Corpsmen have a vital role when embedded with any Marine unit. When a Marine is injured, in battle or training, a corpsman is often the first to give life-saving treatment.
"If there were no corpsmen, this mission wouldn't happen," said Gross. "We can't be certain what type of casualties we're going to have in the area. The corpsmen provide that expert opinion about what needs to be done. The corpsmen will assess the scene and stabilize the casualties to make sure they can survive long enough to get back to a hospital."
Once the corpsmen reach the field, they triage the victims, a medical process that determines the order in which casualties are evacuated from a scene.
It's important to get the corpsmen's skills, both medically and tactically up to par, said Seaman Mitchell Murphy, a young hospital corpsman with CLB-22 from Chincoteague, Va.
"You go out there and see who are the worst and which ones aren't so bad, the ones that can walk themselves out of the hot zone," said Murphy.
Once the victims are organized as to who is evacuated first, the troops on the ground call in air support in the form of MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced), the Aviation Combat Element of the 22nd MEU.
After the role players are safely evacuated, the Marines and sailors gather to discuss the success of the exercise and what they can do in the future to ensure that they always save as many lives as possible.
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is a scalable, multipurpose force of more than 2,200 Marines and sailors. Commanded by Col. Gareth F. Brandl, it consists of its Ground Combat Element, BLT 3/2; Aviation Combat Element, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced); Logistics Combat Element, CLB-22; and its Command Element.
The 22nd MEU is currently conducting pre-deployment training and is scheduled to deploy this spring. For more information about the 22nd MEU, visit the unit's Website at www.22meu.usmc.mil.
| Date Taken: | 10.02.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.14.2008 23:05 |
| Story ID: | 24983 |
| Location: | FORT PICKETT, US |
| Web Views: | 210 |
| Downloads: | 133 |
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