Photo By Staff Sgt. Karen Sampson | A training collaboration brought together UH-60 Blackhawk crew and critical care...... read more read more
FORT JOHNSON, La. — A training collaboration brought together UH-60 Blackhawk crew and critical care flight paramedics from Cajun DustOff, 1st Battalion, 5th Aviation Regiment, and handlers and canine partners from the 50th Military Police Military Working Dog Detachment to conduct intensive rehearsals of MWD combat casualty care, aeromedical evacuation and hoist training, at Maks Army Airfield, Nov. 18-21.
“50th MP MWD mission is commonly narcotics, explosive detection, patrol, and apprehension,” said Sgt. 1st Class Linda Chong, critical care flight paramedic and company instructor. “In this situation, we learn to extract an injured canine or handler with a hoist unit on the Blackhawk.”
She said the mission for Cajun DustOff and 50th MP MWD at JRTC and Fort Johnson is unique.
“Cajun DustOff and 50th MP MWD share the search and rescue mission for the state of Louisiana and some surrounding areas,” she said.
Both scenarios require the flight crew and medics to use a hoist to insert and extract personnel efficiently from areas with difficulty landing the aircraft.
“Cajun DustOff flight medics instructed the military working dog handlers on familiarizing their canines with the harness and evacuation seat needed for hoist training; we showed the handlers how to maneuver safely on the outside of the aircraft and how to load and unload,” Chong said. “The dog teams were able to hop in, sit down, buckle themselves in, undo their buckles, and then hop out and walk away from the aircraft.”
Chong said it is essential to learn how they’re supposed to walk out when the blades of the UH-60 are turning.
For flight medics and crew to maintain readiness with aeromedical evacuation operations, hoist training is required every 90 days to build proficiency and effectiveness and ensure members are ready to respond to medical emergency missions anywhere, said Chong.
“In the past two and a half years, we’ve launched five times for search and rescues,” said Sgt. 1st Class Steven Simmons, detachment sergeant and company instructor. “With that being said, the military working dog team is inserted and can search the ground areas as we’re circling, searching with our infrared camera.”
Chong and Simmons trained the company’s flight medics and crew while instructing the dog handlers with repetitive loading and off-loading.
On the third day, the flight personnel and MWD teams repelled and extracted the MWD teams from approximately 90 feet.
One medic comes down on the hoist, and the crew is the hoist operator; the pilots hold a good hover.
Simmons said that by working with the MWDs, medics get to train in skills they don’t often get exposure to.
“Medics and crew benefit more from training with the military working dog teams than simulators,” Simmons said.
He said it benefits the MWD to have exposure to flight in a training environment.
“The dogs and handlers need to be more familiar with the aircraft in case they need to use us for any mission set.”
| Date Taken: | 12.02.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.04.2024 17:01 |
| Story ID: | 486649 |
| Location: | FORT JOHNSON, LOUISIANA, US |
| Hometown: | LEESVILLE, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 111 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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