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MIAMI - The 933rd Forward Surgical Team, based in Paducah, Ky., traveled to Miami, with varying knowledge bases of U.S. Army trauma patient care, to participate in the Army Trauma Training Center event, June 7-21.
The 20-soldier team of general surgeons, anesthetists, nurses, medics, operating room technicians and one orthopedic surgeon, made-up the core of the team. The purpose held by the Army Trauma Training Center, AMEDD Center and Schools, and the University of Miami was to combine efforts in order to effectively train and prepare forward surgical teams upon deployment and for future deployments. As part of their training they initiated and sustained wartime skills of critical, resuscitative surgical care for trauma patients at the Ryder Trauma Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
The training consisted of a 15-day rotation at the Army Trauma Training Center with three phases that included classroom refresher training, clinical team rotations, and a capstone exercise to the end the training.
The first phase was the classroom portion of the training which afforded the soldiers the opportunity to refresh their knowledge on the material covered. Within this phase, a mass casualty exercise in a real world scenario gave the team the chance to perform real-life trauma resuscitation in a situational training environment.
"The training is fantastic! It is so awesome! I have been able to see the practitioners in action I have been able to see them come together, see how they interact, how they do what they do, and exhibit what they know," said 1st Lt Christian Gaines, executive officer, 933rd FST.
The focus was a teamwork concept with evaluation on how the team responded to levels of stress when challenged with trauma. The diversity of the team and their ability to respond quickly was evident through the rotation, and the training provided affected the members in a positive and profound manner.
Another tool that was used to help develop the team's cohesion and integrity were the clinical rotations, the second phase of the training. The clinical rotation teams were on 12-hour day and night shift rotations that provided the chance to handle trauma resuscitation within their respected areas.
This rotation provides the teams with the opportunity to work together clinically in the care of acutely injured patients. The setting is Ideal: the Ryder Trauma Center of the Jackson Memorial Medical Center, home to more than 5,000 major trauma resuscitations each year, according to Lt. Col. George D. Garcia the director of the ATTC.
The training also teaches how to work together as a trauma team by giving an opportunity for the soldiers to work together in a clinical environment.
“First thing I get out of it is the fact that 90 percent of the people that are here I’m going in country with, they get to learn me, I get to learn them. I get to see their strengths and weaknesses and they get to see my strengths and weaknesses. We’ve become more of a close knit family.” said Lt. Col. Arthur Womble a certified registered nurse anesthetist with the 933rd.
“The best thing about this training was the focus on both medical skills and medical skills and team work. The benefit is we don’t have to wait until we get in country to see it all come together. We can see it come together and work out the kinks now so when we get in theatre we can hit the ground running," said Gaines.
The final phase was a summation of all aspects of the training for the team with a capstone exercise providing the team total control of the Trauma Resuscitation Unit for 24 hours.
"The ATTC is an opportunity to actually do the patient care that looks very similar to what we are going to be doing downrange. It is similar because at ATTC you work with real patients and the other training we do in the Army you usually have to use mannequins. This is the only opportunity we have had to do actual clinical work on real patents" said Lt. Col. Diana Hay, the 933rd FST officer-in-charge.
The 933rd FST is only one of many Army Medical teams to receive training at the Army Trauma Training Center before deploying to Afghanistan later this year. The program offers a multitude of benefits that the Army, the AMEDD Center and Schools, the University of Miami, and the 933rd FST can draw upon to develop current and future medical assets for current theater of operations and the military services.
| Date Taken: | 07.09.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.21.2012 17:38 |
| Story ID: | 93593 |
| Location: | MIAMI, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 526 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 3rd MDSC Medical Team trains for Wartime Trauma in Miami, by MAJ Zoevera Jackson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
