Photo By Sgt. Grace Wajler | Multinational soldiers assigned to the NATO-led KFOR mission participated in the...... read more read more
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Kosovo Force troops play a critical role in maintaining a safe and secure environment for all communities in Kosovo, regardless of ethnic origin. With a mandate to ensure peace and stability, KFOR operates across various Areas of Responsibility, demonstrating its commitment to the region's security through a wide range of operations and capabilities. Among these capabilities, medical support stands as a fundamental pillar in ensuring the success of any mission, especially during large-scale training exercises such as Golden Sabre.
The Golden Sabre 24-2 exercise, held on Nov. 25, 2024, at Camp Vrelo, Kosovo, was a strategic and complex exercise designed to test and enhance the interoperability of the Kosovo Police, European Union Rule of Law Mission, and Kosovo Force units.
The exercise simulated civil unrest within Kosovo, with multiple units of security working together to maintain order. The first layer of response was the Kosovo Police, who then called on EULEX as a secondary responder. When EULEX arrived and determined that they needed additional support, KFOR deployed their diverse response elements.
During Golden Sabre, the KFOR medical team, consisting of medical soldiers from multiple nations with varied experience levels, was tasked with three primary objectives: evaluate the medical care capabilities of individual soldiers, provide real-time medical support, and provide care to the simulated casualties for the purpose of training.
Evaluating the training measured each soldiers’ preparedness to provide life-saving care to both real-life and notional casualties in combat conditions, simulated by Golden Sabre. Any weakness in this area that was observed by Observer Coach/Trainers was noted so medical personnel can provide additional training, post-exercise, to strengthen those areas and ensure that they are ready to provide life-saving care at a moment’s notice, if needed.
While the primary focus was on simulated combat scenarios, there are always risks of real-world injuries during kinetic-focused training, so there was a medical team that stood prepared to respond to medical emergencies during the exercise.
Medical personnel also participated in treating notional casualties with simulated injuries designed to test and improve medical response skills.
The Golden Sabre exercise allowed the multinational teams to practice their coordination, communication, and medical procedures in a challenging, yet controlled, environment. Working as a multinational medical force not only enhances the overall readiness of KFOR, but also contributes to the broader NATO mission of peacekeeping and crisis response.
“Each medical unit has slightly different procedures, techniques, tactics,” said U.S. Army Capt. Andrew Medina, a medical officer assigned to KFOR Regional Command East. “In our interoperability trainings like Golden Sabre, we have an opportunity to fine tune those. It gets extremely important that we are synchronized because of the nature of our job.”
During Golden Sabre, medical personnel were stationed at strategic points throughout the exercise areas, ensuring that injured soldiers, both real and simulated, received prompt and effective care. The team was equipped with medical supplies and equipment to stabilize casualties and provide evacuation to higher levels of care if necessary.
Each soldier carried an Individual First Aid Kit, or IFAK, that contained medical tools specific to common combat wounds. These IFAKs are designed to give aid to the person carrying it, whether it be self-administered or administered by a buddy, until they can get more advanced medical care.
If further care is required beyond self-care or buddy care, especially during kinetic situations, KFOR has designated medics always embedded with units and on site to provide further care with more comprehensive life-saving equipment. This ultimately allows them to stabilize patients and prepare them for transport to a medical facility.
KFOR’s military medical forces are equipped with tactical ambulances, allowing them to navigate to environments that traditional ambulances may not have the ability to. These ambulances have features that allow medical professionals to continue care while being transported to a medical facility.
KFOR also has a highly trained Medical Evacuation team who stands ready for potential emergencies. The MEDEVAC team is equipped with helicopters that are able to quickly navigate various landscapes to ensure timely evacuation of casualties and equipment to sustain the lives of injured soldiers.
“When casualties are on board, the medics have the essential equipment of a hospital emergency room to treat the patients in flight,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kareem Taylor, RC-E Critical Care Flight Medic. “Army MEDEVAC units embody a commitment to saving lives, no matter the circumstances.”
Working together, all KFOR medical teams play a huge role in the overall mission. Whether it be running a clinic to ensure soldiers are physically able to carry out the daily mission, or being prepared to respond to emergency combat situations, Task Force Medical plays a critical role in the success of KFOR’s mission of creating a safe and secure environment for all people in Kosovo.
| Date Taken: | 11.25.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.02.2024 08:42 |
| Story ID: | 486395 |
| Location: | CAMP VRELO, ZZ |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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