Photo By Master Sgt. Jeff Fitzmorris | Maj. Mathew Waller, a mental health nurse with the 911th Aeromedical Staging Squadron...... read more read more
Two Steel Airmen joined military personnel and mental health experts from the Air Force Reserve Command at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, June 3-7, 2024, for the inaugural AFRC Mental Health Symposium.
Attending as instructors, Maj. Anthony Niederriter and Maj. Matthew Waller, both mental health nurses assigned to the 911th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, emphasized the critical role of psychological well-being in contemporary military operations.
"In preparing for present and future conflicts," Niederriter explained, "this symposium facilitates crucial discussions and networking across the expansive Air Force. With mental health resources typically limited at individual bases, this gathering fosters exchanges of effective practices and innovative strategies."
Waller underscored the extensive coordination efforts involved in organizing the symposium, commenting on how closely they worked with AFRC collaborators. Specifically citing Col. Nichole Hurley, an AFRC Command Nurse, Col. Pawel Kowalczyk, Individual Mobilization Augmentee to Hurley, who were key in the planning and organization of the Mental Health Symposium and Lt. Col. Jonathan Semple, Chief of the AFRC Medical Support Division, who secured audio/visual support for the event.
"Maj. Niederriter and I were the lead planners and facilitators for the five-day training event," said Waller. "We coordinated the speakers for the presentations, CMRPs [Career Management Readiness Program], group discussions, team building, and simulations. We provided all the knowledge based CMRP job requirements for four AFSC's – Mental Health Nurse, Social Worker, Psychologist/Psychiatrist, & Mental Health Technicians."
The symposium featured a series of briefings covering readiness, patient movement, deployments, spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and live exercises conveying mental health scenarios. These discussions provided valuable insights and strategies for supporting the mental health needs of military personnel. In one exercise, Waller, a former Marine, donned his USMC uniform portraying an armed casualty in a crisis.
"We wanted to develop training that was engaging, dynamic, realistic and challenging,” Waller explained. “We built the scenarios based on our experiences on mass casualty teams in Afghanistan to better prepare our Mental Health assets for what they will experience down range. What made this scenario complex was the patient had physical, neurological, and psychological symptoms that all need to be addressed. The medical team had to use multiple skill sets in order to manage the patient and get them the treatment they need while maintaining the safety of everyone involved."
According to Waller, such scenarios are essential in honing the readiness of medical teams to handle diverse and intense situations they may encounter in active duty.
"Train the way you want to fight, because you will fight the way you train," emphasized Waller, reflecting on the importance of realistic training scenarios like the one presented at the symposium. "Our Air Force Reserve mental health team members are highly motivated, dedicated to making a difference and ready for whatever challenges they face. We wanted them to leave with more tools and resources to do their jobs to the best of their capacity."
Waller emphasized the collaborative essence of the event, recognizing that unity enhances effectiveness. This gathering aimed to foster exchanges of ideas, ensuring their collective expertise remains sharp. Given the relatively small size of the mental health career field at each base, a nationwide network allows for this type of enhanced collaboration, enabling them to innovate and maintain high standards in their practices.
"We are stronger together," Waller concluded. "This event wouldn't have happened without the support of our mental health team, our speakers, our coordinators, our leadership, and the support and hard work of Col. Hurley, Col. Kowalczyk, Lt. Col. Semple."
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2024 12:41 |
| Story ID: | 474785 |
| Location: | PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 162 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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