Medical Monday: Why Simulated Training Exercises Matter

Photo By Staff Sgt. Veronica Van Doran | U.S. Army Soldiers from the 932nd Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment (FRSD) perform a simulated wound assessment on a patient as the first step in developing a comprehensive plan of care during a Collective Training Exercise (CTE) at Fort Cavazos, Texas, Oct. 21, 2024. CTEs are instruction and applied exercises that prepare an organizational team such as a squad, aircrew, battalion, or multi-service task force to accomplish required military tasks as a unit. These CTEs reinforce their skill sets to bolster Army medical capabilities and ensure Soldier proficiencies with life-saving measures. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Veronica Van Doran)  

FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES

10.21.2024

Story by Staff Sgt. Veronica Van Doran 

214th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

These exercises are the host of multiple training objectives which include successfully relocating their FRSD trauma center where the surgeons, nurses, medics and operating room specialists would perform simulated triage, advanced trauma life support, and coordinating follow-up care with surgical and intensive care or inpatient services.

“By doctrine, we have 90 minutes once we get boots on ground to be able to accept our first surgical patient,” said FRSD Commander Lt. Col. Laura Vaughn,. “[In today’s scenario,] we were up and ready in 30 minutes.”

The overall mission of the FRSD is to provide expeditionary urgent surgical capability as close to the fighting as possible to the severely wounded prior to transportation to the next higher level of care- the field hospital. The FRSD is designed to support short and extended duration operations that sometimes exceeds 72 hours.

“With a Forward Surgical Detachment, we are the first surgical capabilities that’s going to be closest to the frontline,” said Vaughn. “A field hospital cannot just pick up and move whenever the forward line of the battlefield progresses like we can. We provide that golden hour of surgical opportunity.”

“We are able to perform surgical intervention, resuscitate with blood products, stabilize those patients, and then get them transported to the field hospital for more definitive care.”

The FRSD’s modularity enables its staff to provide a tailored forward resuscitative and surgical support package based on the type and number of operations conducted. The detachment’s organizational design provides a flexibility that allows it employment as a complete detachment, forward resuscitative and surgical sections, or as individual teams. In this configuration, the forward surgical team provides emergency medical services to receive, triage and prepare up to four incoming casualties for surgery.

“Today was day one of [the] FRSD being in a split configuration in two different locations,” said Vaughn. “[Today was the] crawl phase… the very beginning of our training, [which] was a run-through of patient scenarios we might experience downrange and the challenge we might face with being such a small team.”

Over the course of the CTE, the FRSD will continuously relocate their trauma center to assess their ability to prepare for split operations in difficult combat environments, treat complex trauma patients and improve their group dynamics.

• Date Taken: 10.21.2024
• Date Posted: 10.22.2024 20:27
• Story ID: 483713
• Location: FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US