Photo By Sgt. Mark Cloutier | U.S. Soldiers of the 547th Area Support Medical company, 62nd Medical Brigade, Joint...... read more read more
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CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. - Throughout the Army, units train every day to become more proficient in their occupations. Generally, they are able to achieve success without any help from outside sources. However, success doesn’t come so easy when the mission is to rescue, decontaminate, treat and evacuate approximately 300 people who have just been injured, trapped and irradiated as a result of a radiological incident.
During a Vibrant Response 13 exercise July 29, four Army units, representing three separate installations, came together to do what none of them could do alone.
The 44th Chemical Company, 48th Chemical Brigade, out of Fort Hood, Texas held operational control of the mass chemical decontamination exercise. The brigade was supported by the 178th Engineer Company, 46th Engineer Battalion Fort Polk, Louisiana; 547th Area Support Medical Company, 56th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; and the 514th Medical Company (Ground Ambulance), 62nd Med Bde, also out of JBLM.
The exercise began with the 178th Engineers running search and rescue missions into and around one building as well as an adjacent pile of rubble – what was left of a second building. They were to search for who and what remained of those caught in the collapsed and contaminated area. Survivors, most likely, would have been injured and irradiated.
Going in, the engineers knew they would have to wear full chemical suits to protect them against radiological contamination. Temperatures inside the suit would be 15-20 degrees greater than the ambient temperature. According to the local weather forecast, on that day, temperatures inside the suit would reach 110-120 degrees Fahrenheit – not a job for the weary, or for the faint of heart. The men and women of the 178th Engineers would also have to push medical gurneys and carry with them heavy rescue, breach and extraction equipment required to accomplish their task.
“I like that it’s a fresh place to train,” said Spc. Jeffrey Ruffin, combat engineer for the 178th. “We come out here, we’ve never seen the place before, but we’ve got to get the job done. It requires a lot of motivation to do this, but when I think that this could be someone’s mother or brother that we’re helping, I get really motivated.”
As the engineers searched for and rescued who they could of the injured and contaminated, Soldiers of the 44th Chemical Company prepared for the hand-off. Also wearing chemical protection suits, they transferred the patients from the rescue site to the casualty collection point, where Soldiers of the 44th Chemical Company and the 547th ASMC triaged and moved the patients to the next stage in the decontamination process.
Not even halfway through the process, soldiers from three separate installations had already been forced to rely on one another to make things work in the best interests of the suffering and injured.
“Having trained with members of the 44th Chemical in Yakima (Washington state), we saw a number of familiar faces of people we had become friends with,” said Pfc. Amanda Stephens, medic with the 547th ASMC. “It helped with our working together, so that was pretty cool.”
“The whole training area looks so real!” said Spc. Elizabeth Sanchez, also a medic with the 547th. “This motivates us and makes people work so much harder.”
From the casualty collection point, the patients were separated into ambulatory and non-ambulatory lines to begin the decontamination process. In the non-ambulatory line, medics and chemical soldiers worked together once again. As the chemical soldiers begin a hasty wash and scrub-down of the patients, medics stood by to explain how the patient should be handled, according to their injuries.
From the beginning of the exercise to the end, soldiers from all units reported having gained much from needing to rely on each other in order to accomplish the mission.
“I’m always learning something,” said 1st Sgt. Robert Vose, 547th first sergeant. “Even today – I was out on the line and one of the privates showed me how to do a proper hasty decontamination with the chemical sprayer – so it’s great.”
“We took the training from a parking lot to an actual urban environment, and that’s an awesome thing,” said Spc. Donte Burgess, chemical specialist with the 44th Chemical Company, 48th Chemical Bde. “There are times when I go to the field and don’t really get so much from it, but this exercise has included so many more units, and we had to count on each other. It makes me feel like we are so ready for the real thing if it happens; it’s so much more valuable.”
For this mission, the going was always tough, and the tough were always going. All four units came together as a team to achieve what no one unit could achieve alone: provide the greatest amount of care to greatest number of casualties.
“It was one of those rare missions that you really enjoy because it’s so unique,” said Capt. Jaime Porras, commander of the 514th Med. Company (Ground Ambulatory). “It could be your own neighbor, your own daughter, son or mother, and I think that reaches into a Soldier’s soul – we take ownership of it and enjoy training to the fullest.”
| Date Taken: | 07.29.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2012 12:20 |
| Story ID: | 92913 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 123 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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