Mass casualty exercise tests Hill’s medical response capabilities
Members from 75th Medical Group carry a simulated victim during a Ready Eagle exercise Aug. 13 at Hill Air Force Base. Ready Eagle, an Air Force Medical Readiness Agency directed medical readiness training and exercise program, tested the 75th MDG on their response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive event.
Members from 75th Medical Group decontaminate a simulated victim during a Ready Eagle exercise Aug. 13 at Hill Air Force Base.
Members from 75th Medical Group triaging simulated victims during a Ready Eagle exercise Aug. 13 at Hill Air Force Base.
HILL AIR FORCE BASE — It was a scene of organized chaos at the 75th Medical Group Clinic on Aug. 13, as Medical Contingency Response Plan teams ran an exercise aimed to maximize training for medics and enhance readiness, integration, and all-hazards response skills.
It’s called Ready Eagle and is a force-wide exercise directed by the Air Force Medical Service and facilitated by the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm. The program aims to identify and train to critical actions across medical response teams, which standardizes efforts and improves preparedness across the Air Force.
The Hill exercise scenario involved simulated biochemical explosions on base resulting in more than 50 “victims” needing medical attention. The victims were volunteers dressed in moulage, adding a sense of realism to the exercise.
“We introduced medics to all kinds of different casualties,” said Col. Tracie Swingle, commander of the 75th Medical Group. “The purpose of it is to educate and stress our system to ensure that our medical Airmen are ready to respond to a real-world disaster.”
The exercise enabled teams across the full scope of medical capabilities to enable an all-hazards response. The goal was to help Air Force medics prepare for any type of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosive, or mass casualty event.
“It’s my responsibility to give our Airmen the tools they need to be able to respond to any situation,” Swingle said. “The more we can train and exercise, and understand what our obstacles are, the more prepared we will be.”
Ready Eagle is a week-long program that progresses from classroom work to tabletop exercises before concluding with a capstone simulated mass casualty event. The concluding mass casualty event is meant to fully stress a team’s response.
“We want to test our ability to secure a scene, and help those folks who are not only injured from an explosion standpoint but also from the chemical or biological aspect,” said Col. Lance Nussbaum, the 75th MDG’s public health emergency officer. “We’re practicing our medical response teams and decontamination teams.”
The medical teams will have a “hot wash” shortly after the exercise to discuss lessons learned, including what went well and what could be improved upon.