Photo By Jerry Foltz | A patient is transported to the final receiving area during a mass casualty...... read more read more
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. - The 78th Medical Group conducted in-place patient mass decontamination training Nov. 20 at the base medical facility located at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.
The three-hour long training evolution tested both the facility and staff for an emergent crisis.
“Today’s scenario involved a simulated water treatment facility exploding, which housed chlorine,” said Mike Daniel, 78th MDG medical emergency manager. “Patients exhibited all kinds of mock medical emergencies from chlorine, gas fuel and sulfuric gas inhalation to burns, shrapnel, cuts and scrapes.”
Medical personnel assumed the roles of disoriented and incoherent patients, touting prefabricated lacerations, gouges, burns and blisters. Makeup artists were on hand to apply finishing touches, consisting of cocoa powder, red dye, gum paste and cornstarch, to give performers a gruesome appearance. The added realism presented a more profound sense of medical urgency.
As the exercise commenced and alert given, patient decontamination team members converged outside, inflating a decontamination wash-down tent. For full setup, staff needed to have water heaters hooked up and four personnel suited up in Powered Air-Purifying Respirator gear within 15 minutes. The remainder of the team had to gear up five minutes after to receive critically injured patients.
As patients approached the decontamination tent entrance area, they were assessed by priority, washed off, and decontaminated in the shelter area to prevent further cross contamination.
After decontamination, manpower and security team members transported the injured to the waiting triage area located inside the 78th MDG building. There, Airmen had to quickly access, triage, and process patients in a high-paced emergency environment.
“Patients will walk in, and we’ll have to triage them to see who get seen first. We treat their wounds and pass them over to higher responsive care,” said 1st Lt. Tyrell Brown, 78th MDG Medical Readiness Office flight commander and training evolution supervisor.
“There were a lot of moving parts,” said Airman 1st Class Danalee Rivera, 78th Medical Group aerospace medical technician. “I was a little overwhelmed, but I just followed my training. I focused on the patient in front of me by providing the clinical care they needed for their particular injury.”
“It was a little chaotic, which could happen in a real-life situation,” said Brown.
Exercises like this allow Airmen to put their emergency medical training into action in a rapidly changing and robust simulated environment. Although the exercise was in preparation for annual certifications, the focus of staff was patient well-being.
“The more we prepare, the better we’ll be should the need arise,” said Brown.
| Date Taken: | 11.20.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.02.2024 09:56 |
| Story ID: | 486253 |
| Location: | ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 9 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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