Courtesy Photo | Aeromedical Evacuation 1st Lt. Mari Martinsen, 31, Oslo, Norway, Norwegian Aeromedical...... read more read more
By U.S. Army Spc. Jeanita C. Pisachubbe,
PROVINCIAL RECONSTRUCTION TEAM MEYMANEH, Afghanistan – The call comes in. There’s been a car accident involving an Afghan military ally just outside the security coverage area of Faryab province and there is no International Security Assistance Force ground coverage available.
Company Charlie, Task Force Mustang MEDEVAC, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, scrambles one UH-60 Black Hawk gunship and one HH-60 MEDEVAC Black Hawk. For extra security, a Bell 412 Super Huey gunship flown by the Norwegian air force from the Norwegian Aeromedical Detachment, is sent out as well. The Norwegian gunship has a higher rate of fire than the 4th CAB Black Hawk and since the HH-60 MEDEVAC Black Hawk carries no crew served weapons, additional fire power is needed on this mission.
Into the night goes the American and Norwegian team.
The trio of ISAF helicopters arrives at the site of the accident. The UH-60 flies over the area to determine the security of the site, the Bell 412 does the same. The site is clear and secure and the gunships back off. The HH-60 MEDEVAC Black Hawk descends and disappears in a massive cloud of dust. The U.S. Army medic jumps out to retrieve the casualty. Back on board a Norwegian anesthetic nurse waits, prepared for the anything.
“It was great!” recalled the pilot of the HH-60 and U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Miguel Ingle, 36, Killeen, Texas, Company C, TF Mustang, 4th CAB, 4th ID, of the October 2010 inaugural combined U.S. MEDEVAC and Norwegian medical forces mission. “Nobody died and we brought the patient back,” Ingle said.
A simple criteria for success.
The NAD was set up at PRT Meymaneh in early 2008. The partnership with 4th CAB began when TF Mustang MEDEVAC assumed duty in August 2010. The NAD offered knowledge of the local area, anesthetic nurses whose training and expertise goes deeper than that of the U.S. flight medics and medics who are paramedics in the civilian world. The medics and flight crews of TF Mustang brought to the partnership trauma and flight experience from their deployment in Iraq and helicopters with a larger capacity for patients.
“Our different experiences make this a unique situation,” said the NAD commander, Lt. Col. Tom Snedal, 43, of Larvik, Norway. “We can learn a lot from each other and coordinate our efforts and resources towards the same mission.”
That mission is medical evacuation- MEDEVAC.
“The Norwegians are more than willing and able to go out on these missions,” Ingle said as he recounted that first joint venture. “This is what we’ve been training for.”
The two nations have been conducting mixed multi-aircraft training for a contingency such as the mission in October. “Flying is flying,” Ingle explained, “but we need to communicate with one another.”
The Combined U.S./Norwegian Team Brief was established by the two detachments. It is a standard operating procedure that combines their radio languages and flying techniques. Brevity codes are used by pilots to quickly give instruction or status. They developed one common vocabulary. Radios were synchronized so that communication would be clear and unobstructed. Contingencies for downed aircraft, bad weather, hostile fire and personnel recovery were determined.
After it was decided upon and written down, the SOP was put into practice. The pilots of each team flew exercises and practiced their newly created language. However, the medical staff of the MEDEVAC detachments is just as vital to a successful mission as the well-trained helicopter pilots. “
“Their medics are paramedics in the civilian world,” U.S. Army Capt. Rebecca Joseph, 27, Lincoln, Calif., detachment officer in charge, Company C, TF Mustang, said of the NAD. “Their nurses are anesthetic nurses.” Anesthetic nurses have three years in nursing school, they have emergency room and ground ambulance experience, they are able to prep the patient for surgery, can administer drugs that U.S. flight medics cannot, and are called upon anytime there is report of airway constrictions.
“They are highly trained and qualified,” U.S. Army Spc. Jeremy Albright, 24, Denver, Colo., flight medic and flight instructor, Company C, said about flying with the NAD nurses. “I’ve learned that four hands are better than two; I don’t have to do it alone.” Ordinarily, HH-60 MEDEVAC Black Hawks fly with two pilots, one crew chief, but only one flight medic.
Albright is one of the flight instructors who conducts the training that all Norwegian medics and nurses must complete before flying on missions with TF Mustang. How to approach the aircraft by following guidance from a crewmember, familiarization with the back of the HH-60, how to load and off-load litters, and taking commands from crew chiefs make up part of the training. This training is done ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ – with engines off and with engines on, blades turning.
Though the Norwegian nurses and medics have more medical training and experience than the U.S. flight medics, their mission in the joint endeavor is to “support the U.S. medic,” according to 1st Lt. Mari Martinsen, 31, Oslo, Norway, aeromedical evacuation officer, NAD. “The U.S. medic is the lead.”
Martinsen goes on to say the flight medics of TF Mustang have more experience in quick response and with war wounds due to their deployment in Iraq. “There is a lot of experience we can take advantage of,” she said, “and also the other way around.”
The medical experience and expertise of the NAD coupled with the combat flight and trauma experience of TF Mustang make this a powerhouse team. For the first time in Regional Command (North), multi-national medical partners are flying with one another, resulting in the best possible care for the patients.
“Our main focus is the patient.” Snedal said with Joseph sitting nearby, “We all agree on this and it makes it easy to do the right thing.”
| Date Taken: | 01.03.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.11.2011 14:59 |
| Story ID: | 63379 |
| Location: | MEYANMEH, AF |
| Web Views: | 704 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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