Senior Medic, Master Sgt. James Stranahan, of Shelburn, Ind., 53rd Civil Support Team, was in the third row stands when the stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair, Aug. 13, in Indianapolis. He witnessed the stage fall and jumped over the guardrail to give aid to the injured. Photo by Sgt. John Crosby

An Indiana Air Guardsman and medical expert found himself at the wrong place at the right time late Saturday night, Aug. 13, when the concert stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair here, killing five and injuring at least 40 more.

Senior Medic, Master Sgt. James Stranahan, of Shelburn, Ind., 53rd Civil Support Team, was in the third row stands when the stage collapsed. He witnessed the stage fall onto roughly 50 people who were still in the sand pit. He jumped over the guard rail and took action.

Stranahan triaged, treated and helped evacuate more than a dozen injured in the tragedy. Having responded to mass casualty situations before on deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, he said this hit very close to home.

“In the military, there’s always that potential,” said Stranahan. “But, an accident of this magnitude, it’s tough. I’m an older guy, I feel like I can handle it. I feel bad for those kids that have to live with this memory for the rest of their lives.”

Stranahan has more than 29 years experience in the military including more than 20 years in the Indiana Army and Air National Guard. His military expertise, as well as his mission with the 53rd CST, is responding to civil emergencies from natural disasters to attacks from weapons of mass destruction.

Stranahan attended the fair with this girlfriend after he received a phone call earlier that evening from a coworker offering him tickets to Saturday’s concert. He and his girlfriend watched the opening act in the sand pit, just in front of the stage. Stranahan and his girlfriend returned to their ticketed seats after the opening act. Roughly 30 minutes later, tragedy struck. Stranahan described the strong and sudden 60-mph gust of wind that ripped through the fair collapsing the stage.

“Within just a few minutes, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped,” Stranahan said. “I could see just a wall of dust and debris tear through the Ferris wheel.”

Stranahan said the wind then hit the stage that caused it to fall within seconds. He also thought there would be a lot of injured fans.

“With all my military training, and the medical side, I knew I needed to spring into action to help these injured people,” he said.

“After the collapse of the stage, we started using whatever we could to help evacuate the casualties out from underneath the stage. We used the chairs that were knocked down, we folded them up and used them as litters. Guys were cutting pieces tarp, taking pieces of the collapsed stage, whatever they could find to help these injured people.”

Stranahan and others worked for more than an hour through the storm to try to save as many lives as they could. He treated head wounds, lacerations, broken bones, and other injuries. He dressed their wounds and carried them out. He said he witnessed firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians react but what amazed him was the multitude of bystanders who stepped forward. Doctors, nurses, and military service members there just to watch the show, stepped into action to come to the aid of their community.

“It was very gratifying to me, being military and me being a Hoosier, to see so many people come together, so quickly, from all different walks of life to help save those injured folks,” Stranahan said.

Stranahan’s enlisted supervisor praised his wealth of experience and his actions Saturday.

“His many experiences range from deploying for Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield, Operation Iraqi Freedom, to responding to Hurricane Katrina,” said 1st Sgt. Tyson Johnson, 53rd CST. “All of this contributes to his immediate responsible reaction to the incident at the fairgrounds. According to his account of the events and the many news reports, he and the others were but a small percentage of the attendees that chose to run into harm’s way when all others were running for safety. Without hesitation he did exactly what he has been trained to do, and then some; assuredly, if the need should arise again he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.”

DVIDS
Story by Sgt. John Crosby

Spc. Kathy Hysong, a Baker City, Ore., native, and a medic with 15th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Division – North, manually provides oxygen to a simulated patient during an exercise conducted at the Troop Medical Clinic on Contingency Operating Base Warhorse, Iraq, June 6, 2011. Hysong serves as a healthcare specialist and is also a member of the evacuation platoon. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Tiara Walz)

Whether treating a soldier with a cold or helping save the life of a wounded warrior, there is always something to keep a medic busy while deployed.

A typical day for Spc. Kathy Hysong begins with patient care during sick call hours at the Troop Medical Clinic at Contingency Operating Base Warhorse, Iraq. The remainder of her day is dedicated to preparing for any medical evacuations.

Hysong, a healthcare specialist with Company C, 15th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Division – North, plays a versatile role as a medic assigned to the evacuation platoon.

“We typically work in the clinic during sick call,” she said, “but we always have to be ready to do an evacuation if necessary.”

Staying active is important for the medics who evacuate patients.

An evacuation platoon soldier’s job often involves loading patients wearing full combat gear into vehicles and providing patient care while en route to a larger facility.

En route care is the most important part of an evacuation medic’s job, said Hysong, a native of Baker City, Ore.

“I am responsible for keeping the patient [stabilized] from our level of care to the next,” she said.

“Patient care during evacuations is just as important as the treatment they receive in the clinic,” said Staff Sgt. Shirlee Burton, evacuation platoon non-commissioned officer in charge. “Without that en route care, the patient may die.”

Hysong spends a large portion of her day with her fellow evacuation platoon members preparing for evacuation emergencies.

Training for combat is very important, said Burton. “If you haven’t trained to standard and if you make a mistake, people’s lives are in danger.”

Burton has already noticed improvements in Hysong’s performance because of the training.

“She has improved tremendously,” said Burton. “Actually doing real-life medical evacuations has made her realize the importance of her job and the training that is required.”

Although being part of an evacuation platoon is a large responsibility for a young medic, Hysong said her job helps keep soldiers alive.

DVIDS
2nd Lt. Alyson Randall
2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Division-North

Spc. Jaron Johs, of Bismarck, N.D., who serves with the North Dakota National Guard's 191st Military Police Company, directs civilian traffic around the scene of an accident on Highway 2, June 27. Photo by Staff Sgt. Cody Johnson, 191st Military Police Company

Controlling traffic at points throughout flooding communities remains a common duty around the clock for North Dakota National Guard members. Soldiers and airmen help travelers know what roads are blocked and alternative routes while controlling access for residents and ensuring quick movement for civilian and military flood fighters and emergency responders.

Most days are pretty routine for the Guardsmen, who are well-experienced in the mission after having served about 70 days on flood duty this year alone. Monday proved to be a different story for Soldiers with the 191st Military Police Company staffing a traffic control point at an intersection on Highway 2.

As Spc. Jaron Johs, of Bismarck, N.D., and Pfc. Dylan Nerem, of Minot, N.D., manned the point, a three-car accident happened nearby on Highway 2. The soldiers responded quickly on foot to perform an immediate scene assessment, noting one civilian had been injured.

Johs quickly called 911 and reported the incident to Staff Sgt. Cody Johnson, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the traffic control mission. Then, Johs and Nerem directed traffic around the scene to ensure no further accidents occurred.

Within two minutes of being called, Johnson, of Bismarck, arrived on scene with Pfc. Lucas Zabka, of Max, N.D. Johs provided a situation report to Johnson to bring him up to speed on the situation, then Johnson redialed 911 to ensure authorities were aware that there was one injury and that an ambulance was en route.

Zabka assessed the hurt civilian’s injuries and ensured the person’s c-spine was immobilized to prevent any further injury. In the meantime, the other three soldiers controlled traffic, funneling it into a single lane around the accident scene.

When the emergency medical service, fire and law enforcement officials arrived, Zabka briefed the paramedics on what he found and what actions he took. The Ward County Sheriff’s Department requested the soldiers continue to maintain traffic control until the scene was cleared and the injured civilian was transported to the hospital. Then, the Minot Police Department thanked the Guardsmen and they returned to their duties.

“Spc. Johs, Pfc. Nerem and Pfc. Zabka responded and performed exactly as military police are trained and expected to do. Their quick actions and control of the scene ensured that EMS, fire and law enforcement personnel were able to carry out their duties on scene while keeping the welfare of all parties involved at the utmost priority,” Johnson said.

Guardsmen are providing 13 around-the-clock traffic control points in Minot, five each in Burlington and Sawyer and three in Velva. Guardsmen also are patrolling levees, providing quick reaction force team support, serving on security patrols and evacuation teams, procuring fresh water, monitoring pumps and working in borrow pits.

As of today, more than 1,100 Guardsmen are on flood duty in the state. About 850 are in the Minot/Ward County/McHenry County area working alongside 100 airmen from the Minot Air Force Base. In the Bismarck and Mandan areas, more than 250 Guard members continue to serve on flood duty. North Dakota National Guardsmen have served 33,615 workdays in the summer flood fight, which began May 24.

DVIDS
By Pfc. Tiffany Lewis

Loaders from the 89th Aerial Port Squadron move to a C-17 Globemaster III to unload rescue equipment bound for Japan on March 12, 2011, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Air transportation Airmen from the 89th APS created 14 pallets of technical search and rescue gear, to include inflatable swift-water rescue boats, generators, trench rescue and cutting equipment. The gear is being transported by C-17 to more than 80 Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue technicians, to provide assistance in the rescue effort after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011. U.S. Air Force Photo/Senior Airman Perry Aston

Two Air Mobility Command C-17 Globemaster IIIs departed the United States on March 12 and delivered search and rescue, or SAR, equipment and personnel to Japan in support of humanitarian relief efforts after an earthquake and tsunami struck the island nation Friday.

President Barack Obama pledged U.S. support, emphasizing that “the friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakeable, and only strengthens our resolve to stand with the people of Japan as they overcome this tragedy.”

The first C-17 mission, operated by a 62nd Airlift Wing crew from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., is transporting California-based SAR equipment and personnel from Los Angeles to Misawa Air Base, in northern Japan, TACC facts show. The second mission, operated by a 436th Airlift Wing crew from Dover Air Force Base, Del., is transporting Virginia-based SAR equipment and personnel from Fairfax County to the same destination.

In addition to the C-17s, two KC-10 Extenders from the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., are supporting the operation by providing in-air refueling to the C-17s over the Pacific Ocean.

Without the KC-10s, the C-17s would need to land and refuel on the ground adding two to three hours on to each mission, according to officials.

In addition to the C-17 and KC-10 forces, AMC also has additional aircraft and crews prepared to respond if further assistance is requested.

Mission planning and command-and-control for the AMC portion of the humanitarian effort is conducted by AMC’s Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB, Ill.

As AMC’s hub for global operations, the TACC plans, schedules and directs a fleet of nearly 1,300 mobility aircraft in support of strategic airlift, air refueling, and aeromedical evacuation operations around the world.

In addition to supporting U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, AMC’s global mission includes humanitarian airlift in response to global events, such as the case with supporting relief operations in Japan.

by Capt. Justin Brockhoff
Tanker Airlift Control Center Public Affairs
US Air Force

One of six Virginia Task Force 1 dogs being deployed on search and rescue efforts in Japan.

At the request of the Government of Japan, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has deployed Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from Fairfax County and Los Angeles County to assist in the rescue effort in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

A VA-TF1 team member prepares his gear.

The USAR team from Fairfax County has now departed Washington, DC via commercially chartered aircraft. The flight will stop in Los Angeles to meet that rescue team and then continue on to Japan. The U.S. rescue teams, comprised of approximately 150 personnel and 12 canines trained to detect live victims, are scheduled to arrive on the morning of March 13 in Misawa, Japan. Upon arrival, the teams will immediately begin the search for live victims alongside the Japanese and international search and rescue teams.

USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is already in Japan and working to coordinate the overall U.S. Government response effort. USAID will continue to provide additional support to the Government of Japan as needed.

USAID

Lance Cpls. Justis Beauregard (far left), a combat correspondent with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and Josh Rucker (far right), a reproduction specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, pose with Christina Anderson (center) who injured her ankle while hiking on Mount Woodson in Poway, Calif. The Marines helped splint Anderson's broken ankle with skills they learned in a Marine Corps combat lifesaver course and created and expedient stretcher with their flak jackets to carry her to waiting emergency personnel.

Two Miramar Marines put their medical training to work Monday while hiking in the wooded, rocky terrain of the Mount Woodson summit trail in Poway.

What started out as just regular 10-mile hike for Lance Cpls. Justis Beauregard, a combat correspondent with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and Josh Rucker, a reproduction specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, turned out to be one of the most challenging days of their young lives in a quick twist of fate.

Beauregard was navigating the challenging trail wearing a flak jacket with all bulletproof plates inserted, a backpack, Kevlar helmet and his individual first-aid kit. He was training for his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan where he could possibly navigate through similar terrain with a similar load.

As he and Rucker, who was wearing similar gear, began ascending the trail, they encountered a frantic woman desperately searching for a nearby trailhead where she was supposed to meet emergency personnel. She told the Marines her friend was injured and she was supposed to get her to a trailhead for evacuation from the area. The Marines quickly sprinted up the trail to begin see if they could help.

The Marines found Christine Anderson sitting on a rock holding her foot and it became obvious to Beauregard that the Marines were in a real-world scenario. In order to help, the Marines had to use skills they had yet to need outside of standard training. He referred back to his newly acquired combat lifesaver skills he learned in his pre-deployment training and went to work.

He removed her sock, assessing the wound. It was obvious Anderson’s ankle was broken. Beauregard wrapped the ankle with an ACE bandage, then splinted it with a stick he broke into two, 6-inch pieces and the triangular bandages and combat reinforcement tape from his IFAK.

“My combat lifesaver course made me confident and helped me communicate easily with the medical personnel,” said Beauregard. “It’s the first time I’ve really been able to put something I’ve learned in training to use to actually help someone in real life.”

Rucker constructed an expedient stretcher by stretching the Marines’ flak jackets between two 6-foot logs. The two Marines carefully placed Anderson onto the stretcher and carried her through a mile of terrain so austere the waiting park officials could not access it with their all-terrain vehicles.

On the way down, they met 1st Lt. Dwight J. Silva, a student at Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101, and his friend, who happened to be hiking along the same trail. Silva and his friend immediately offered their assistance carrying the stretcher.

When they arrived at the rendezvous point where emergency crews and the park rangers were waiting, firefighters examined Beauregard’s makeshift splint, decided it would suffice and loaded her on to the park rangers’ all-terrain vehicle.

“We knew we had done something right when the firefighters told us the splint ‘wasn’t pretty but it did the job’ and they were not going to replace it,” said Beauregard.

Although the Marines were simply trying to condition their bodies for the mountains of Afghanistan, fate forced them to act in a real emergency. Anderson repeatedly referred to the Marines as “her angels,” but the pair maintain they were just being Marines.

“Any Marine with this skill set would have done exactly what we did for her,” said Rucker. “That’s just what Marines do.”

DVIDS
Story by Cpl. Ryan Rholes

Elizabeth Chacon is a Northridge, Calif. native, and medical specialist attached to the 1038th Horizontal Construction Company, 1st Squadron, 152nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Sustainment Brigade; and the last time she was at home with her family was in February 2007.

Back home, her job as a medical attendant with a private ambulance company out of Hollywood was filled with excitement. She would often ride in the back of the ambulance with patients as they were transported to the hospital, or she would stand by on the set of an independent movie or television show during filming just in case there was a medical emergency. At night, she would hang out in clubs around Hollywood, and even circuit parties that would last all night.

However, that fast-paced life changed dramatically once she was deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. She worked as a chemical operations specialist for the 1113th Transportation Company, and eventually became part of the company’s supply section, where she was solely responsible for maintaining all the combat lifesaver bags.

Once the mission was complete and it was time to come home, Chacon volunteered to extend, but on one condition – she would get to work in her primary military occupational skill as a healthcare specialist or medic.

“It boils down to the fact that I wanted to be deployed and actually do what I’m passionate about. I love being a medic and hope to advance in the medical field. I’ll also admit that aside from the fact that I love my job, I’m hoping to save up some extra money for school and to hopefully buy a house when I get home,” said Chacon.

One of her most significant assignments, besides being a healthcare specialist, is that she gets tasked out to go on Deliberate Combat Logistics Patrols and serve as the convoy medic. So far, she has completed nine different missions and traveled to various military camps around Iraq.

“I basically roll out with a gun truck crew as the convoy medic. If anything happens on the road, it is my responsibility to respond and provide medical attention. If my guys have any small gripes or complaints that I can treat, then I do and if not, I’ll assess how serious it is and advise them as what to do next, whether it is go to the [Troop Medical Clinic] wherever we are or to just wait until we get back to Taji to get checked out,” Chacon stated.

Not long after extending, she was moved to Camp Taji and assigned to the Easy Red Troop Medical Clinic, where she does a variety of different jobs. In the screening rooms, she takes vitals such as blood pressure, temperature, and pulse and also annotates the reason for the patients’ visit before they are seen by the military physicians.

At the pharmacy, Chacon fills prescriptions according to whatever the doctors prescribe. This task involves creating the label and counting out pills or tablets to ensure patients get the proper amount of medicine.

When assigned to the treatment rooms, she assists the physicians in whatever they may need such as giving a hand with stitches, changing dressings, giving shots, and performing blood draws.

Chacon also gets supplies that the physicians may need or she will just watch how they examine patients in order to learn. These are only a few different areas within the Troop Medical Clinic that Chacon works in on occasion.

She stands as a bona fide, true role model that absolutely loves her military job and shows her devotion to the U.S. Army every day. After 16 months of being deployed, she is still charging hard and is even looking for another possible deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

DVIDS
By Staff Sgt. James E. Brown Jr.
1st Sustainment Brigade

Two new first-aid products being sent into the combat theater could save more Soldiers’ lives, Army medical officials said at a Pentagon news conference on Oct. 15, 2008.

Test results from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s Institute of Surgical Research showed Combat Gauze field bandages and WoundStat granules both demonstrated marked improvements over what’s currently used in the field, Army Col. (Dr.) Paul Cordts of the Army surgeon general’s office said.

“These products improve survival, result in less blood loss and improved post-injury blood pressures,” he said.

Excessive blood loss is the No. 1 killer on the battleground, Cordts, a surgeon, said. Both products can stop bleeding quickly in wounds where tourniquets can’t be used, he said.

Combat Gauze uses kaolin, a fine, white clay, to stop bleeding, Cordts said, and WoundStat granules react with blood to form a barrier, preventing more bleeding.

More than 92 percent of troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan survive their injuries in combat – the highest percentage of any war, according to the U.S. Army Medical Department. Army Master Sgt. Horace Tyson, a combat medic, said he attributes the high number of people being saved to the advanced tools the Army provides medics, such as dressings that stop or slow blood flow from wounds.

Having recently returned from a 15-month assignment in Iraq as the senior enlisted manager in a battalion aid station in the heart of Baghdad, Tyson said, he saw first-hand the benefits of dressings with blood-clotting capabilities.

“I categorize these products as lifesavers for us,” said Tyson, who now works as a senior operations manager for the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

A servicemember can bleed to death within minutes of being hurt, Tyson said.

“The bandages make the difference between a [soldier] having no chance of living because he’ll bleed out in five minutes vs. me getting him to an aid station within 20 minutes and him staying alive,” Tyson said. “Without the bandages, he could be dead.”

With 19 years of experience and four deployments in conflict areas under his belt, Tyson said, he’s seen the Army’s scientific research drastically improve medics’ tools and training.

“If we’re going to get something else better for the battlefield, that’s great,” he said.

About 270,000 12-foot strips of Combat Gauze are expected to be in theater by the end of the year, said Lt. Col. Sean Morgan from Program Executive Office Soldier, the agency fielding most of the bandages. More than 17,000 packages of WoundStat also will be working their way to the field, he said.

The new dressings are expected not only to save more lives, but also to bring significant cost savings to the government, Cordts said. Combat Gauze is less than $30 per dressing, compared to the currently used HemCon bandage, which uses chitosan from shrimp shells to stop blood and costs $88 per bandage. WoundStat also is less expensive than the QuikClot granules it replaces.

The Army plans to equip combat lifesavers to carry three gauzes, and eventually all soldiers will have one in their improved first aid kits. Combat medics, who are highly trained in emergency trauma, will be given three gauzes, but will be the only ones to carry WoundStat, since it requires more medical expertise to use, Cordts said.

Although the new hemostatic dressings are promising great improvements, Dr. David Baer, ISR’s director of surgical research, said it doesn’t mean the Army isn’t still looking for the next line of products that could offer even more improvements.

ISR scientists looked into about two dozen other products in the last few years before they discovered Combat Gauze and WoundStat, and they will continue their efforts for even more cutting-edge products to save lives, he said.

“The way I think about it is the HemCon was better than the plain gauze, [Combat Gauze] is better than the HemCon, and it can get incrementally better,” Baer said.

DVIDS
By Sarah Maxwell
American Forces Press Service

Navy Lieutenant Tony A. Wade (left), an STP trauma nurse and Jacksonville, N.C., native, bandages a wounded Marine as fellow Marines of Company F, TF 2/7, remove him from the Mobile Trauma Bay after being wounded in a firefight with members of the Taliban. (Photo by Navy Hospitalman Dan K. Marker)

Corpsman Up! It’s a simple phrase used by Marines in combat to let corpsmen fighting alongside them know they need help, and FAST.

Since the Marines have been conducting counterinsurgency operations here, this call for help has pierced the air on more than one occasion.

As they take the fight to the insurgents on a near constant basis, the Marines of Company F, Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan rely heavily on their Navy brethren.

Thankfully, they are equipped with some of the best corpsmen available.

The corpsmen attached to Fox Company are members of the task force’s Shock Trauma Platoon (STP). The STP is comprised of two medical doctors, two nurses, a physician assistant and 14 corpsmen chosen from various military units around the world. The STP specializes in providing trauma care on the scene, and Afghanistan’s austere environment has made it increasingly more challenging for the corpsmen to perform their duties. Nonetheless, the corpsmen serving here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom are committed to a common goal – saving lives and keeping Marines “in the fight.”

To fulfill its life-saving mission, the STP has implemented a new concept that has greatly enhanced its ability to provide more expedient medical care to the Marines serving on the frontlines. Because travelling a short distance to transport wounded Marines through the rocky and hilly terrain can literally take hours, the STP saw fit to create the Mobile Trauma Bay (MTB) to administer care faster.

Through the use of military equipment and medical materials made readily available, the “docs” are now better equipped to help Marines return to the fight.

“We took a flatbed 7-ton truck an ISO container and an AC unit, and turned it into a Mobile Trauma Bay that would rival any emergency room back in the states,” said Cmdr. James L. Hancock, STP senior medical officer and Illiopolis, Ill., native. “It’s hard to believe I wrote the idea down on a napkin and after a few phone calls with some contractors, had it built.”

Affectionately referred to as a “Doc-in-a-box,” the MTB is basically an E.R. (emergency room) on wheels. It is equipped with the medical equipment necessary for the STP to treat wounds that would normally be untreatable on the battlefield. It comes with equipment such as an ultrasound machine that helps the medical personnel locate shrapnel in the body. Among a long list of other medical equipment, the MTB also has an electrocardiogram that shows how the heart is functioning – critical for diagnostic procedures and evalutions; and a pulse-oximeter that shows oxygen saturation of arterial blood necessary to check for normal lung function in a patient.

“We bring advanced medical care to the fight,” said Navy Hospitalman 2nd Class Rudy R. Estrada, STP surgical technician and San Diego, Calif., native. “With the types of injuries we’re seeing, having the MTB with us is a huge asset. Having the advanced equipment so close to the fight has saved a lot of lives.”

A wounded Marine’s chance of survival is increased exponentially if they reach medical care within the first 60 minutes of the injury or what the docs refer to as the “golden hour.” The golden hour represents the time from the point of injury to the time the patient receives treatment.

“With the capabilities we have, we can extend the golden hour to several hours instead of just one,” Estrada explained. “One of the biggest things we bring to the fight is the psychological aspect. The Marines know that if they get injured, the doc is right over their shoulder like a guardian angel.”

Having the additional support of the MTB makes fighting with the enemy less stressful for Fox Company Marines because they know help is close by.

“When I first told my Marines where we were going, one of the first questions they asked was, ‘How far away will we be from medical facilities?’” said Capt. Ross Schellhaas, company commander and Meridian, Idaho native. “You saw a collective sigh of relief from all of the Marines as they realized we would have an E.R. doctor and his team of corpsmen so far forward with us.”

Pleased with the STP’s performance, the company commander said he felt proud to have the sailors serving with Fox Company Marines.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of folks that represent Navy medicine the way our STP has,” Capt. Schellhaas said. “We have several corpsmen out here that have earned multiple Purple Hearts for their efforts in trying to save Marines. The STP will do everything it can to help a Marine who’s down, even if that means putting themselves in harm’s way.”

Fox Company Marines understand the importance of having the STP with them because of the difficult situations the Marines have faced since deploying here in early April.

“The situations we get in here are more complex than a single corpsman can handle,” said Lance Cpl. Brandon W. Besendorfer, infantryman and Golden City, Mo., native. “You know if you get hurt, the STP will be there for you. That makes it a little easier going into combat knowing that they will do whatever they can to make sure you make it home.”

Marine Corps
By Cpl. James M. Mercure
2nd Battalion, 7th Marines

I just returned from a mandated course on Weapons of Mass Destruction that is required for my NYS EMT recertification. It was a steaming pile of crap.

The “All Hazards” approach is the one being taught now. So, for the first 45 minutes we talked about how little money the US has offered Burma for cyclone relief and how the “government” failed the people of New Orleans. You see, all those people who had been cared for by the government for four generations were abandoned and they didn’t know enough to evacuate on their own.

So, the talk began with liberal politics and continued in that manner.

Explosives has been added to the list of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Follow me on this, it’s interesting. The instructor points to Oklahoma City, then moves to “We’ve all been exposed to WMD” as slides appear showing firearms. Yes, the Public Health weenies that consider firearms crimes as an epidemic have infected WMD training.

Columbine was a WMD event, apparently, though I somehow missed that announcement. Now I know because I took the NYS class.

Oh, and BTW, the people that died at the WTC did so because they were following their emergency plan. I guess Rick Rescorla was an idiot.

Essentially, the class was an exercise in attempting to conflate civilian incidents, including but not limited to haz mat incidents, with WMD attacks. Eric Rudolph came up as an example. Crazed bombers like him and Ted Kuzinscki are WMD for our purposes.

Curiously, the instructor maintained that there had never been an insurgent terrorist attack on US soil. I recalled for her the FALN attack on Congress in the late 1940′s and the Black Muslim attack in Washington in the 1970′s. I could have gone on but she wanted to talk about other matters.

We got the usual crap about bird flu and pandemics, without a mention that most people have lived through at least one flu pandemic.

And… as a final criticism, she managed to discuss car bombs without mentioning that both Oklahoma City and WTC I were VIED’s.

It was a fairly normal call. Mom was worried about her son’s mental health. May 1, 2008, about 8:30 pm.

Rochester City police officer Robert Osipovitch responded to the call. He found the suspect, and asked him to remove his hands from his pockets.

Also on scene was a Rural Metro ambulance crew, two people including EMT Brandon McCaughey. They would be transporting the suspect if he were arrested for mental health reasons.

The suspect did not comply with the police officer. The officer pulled out pepper spray and asked again. The suspect rushed at Osipovitch and pulled a knife.

The officer used the spray and the two grappled. EMT McCaughey saw the suspect repeatedly stabbing Officer Osipovitch and moved to help.

R News:

I saw the subject pull out the knife in his right hand and started repeatedly slashing the officer on his left side torso and I immediately jumped in, grabbed the subject’s hand with the knife, removed the knife out of his hand, took him down onto the ground,” said McCaughey.

McCaughey says he then grabbed the handcuffs off Officer Osipovitch’s belt and used them on Sterling.

“These guys, they’re out for us, protecting us when we’re out there and I feel I had to do the same thing,” said McCaughey.

Officer Osipovitch was treated and released for a stab wound to the tricep. Another officer sustained a hand injury. McCaughey received some of the pepper spray but otherwise was not injured.

See also the Democrat & Chronicle story

The Lutifiyah Medical clinic received two ambulances April 26 through the efforts of coalition forces.

Before this, the clinic had relied on Iraqi Army forces to provide transportation for critically ill or wounded persons.

“We will still provide security for the ambulance movement,” said 1st Lt. Mohammed Mousa, a doctor with 1st Battalion, 25th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. “We know the people need emergency medical care on a regular basis and we are going to make sure the people who can give that care get to the people who need it.”

The nahia council in Lutifiyah, 36 kilometers south of Baghdad, brought the need to the attention of Coalition forces, who facilitated delivery of the ambulances.

“This will increase the capacity and ability of the health clinic to reach a more widespread area and be able to bring care to people in need,” said Capt. Mike Fisher, commander of Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Yaseem Mustafa, chairman of the Lutifiyah Nahia Council, said the delivery would alleviate hardship in the community.

“No longer will people have to travel to the clinic for emergency care, it can now be brought to them,” he said.

DVIDS
By Pvt. Christopher McKenna

UPDATE: Democrat and Chronicle

The scale of Sunday’s chain-reaction pileup on Interstate 390 is best described by the numbers:

Thirty-six tangled vehicles.

Twenty-five people injured, including one teenager who later died.
Wind gusts up to 37 mph and blowing snow made seeing past the hood virtually impossible. [snip]

Buses that were headed to the Rochester Institute of Technology to pick up hockey teams were commandeered by the Gates Fire Department and used to keep people warm while the temperature slid to 18 degrees. Firefighters had requested buses as part of the rescue response, West said, but those buses “were in the right place at the right time.”

R News

Emergency crews had to cut four people out of the wreckage. The hardest part was deciding who to treat first.

“They might walk and see a person with a broken arm and say, ‘I’m sorry, you’re going to have to wait,’ as to someone with severe trauma, so that’s the hardest part,” said James Harrington, Gates Fire Chief.

Police say what caused this accident was blowing snow. This part of 390 is located just a few hundred yards from the airport runway. There are no trees to block the wind, causing white-out conditions in a matter of seconds.

A Monroe County spokesperson told R News that the county is not liable for the blowing snow or any damage it may have caused. The county says it is the responsibility of the state DOT to determine whether snow fences are necessary.

At about 12:38 p.m. EST today, the Monroe County 911 Center received a cellphone call reporting a 20 car pileup on I390. In the next few moments, a dozen more calls flooded in. Gates Volunteer Fire and Volunteer Ambulance were dispatched.

Just six minutes later a State Police officer on scene requested “as many EMS rigs as possible”. As late as 12:50 a caller reported that collisions were still occurring.

RNews

White-out conditions are being blamed for a deadly chain reaction crash on Route 390 Sunday. The crash killed a teenage girl.

Le Ngo, 17, of Rochester, died from her injuries following the 36-car pile-up that occurred around 12:40 p.m. in the southbound lane of I-390 near the Greater Rochester International Airport.

Twenty-four others were taken to area hospitals. Lyubov Klepanchuk, 18, was critically injured. The others suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Motorists say a stopped car was hidden by blustery snow coming off the open fields at the airport. Witnesses say the collisions just kept coming.

“As we’re driving going about 40, 45, there was just a white car just stopped, just in the lane and then out of nowhere we just smashed. And then as soon as we smashed, cars just kept hitting us and it was just never-ending it seemed… It was the craziest experience of my life,” said Erik Ramos, witness.

Strong Hospital reports five people are in guarded condition and another four are in satisfactory condition. Unity Hospital says 12 victims were brought in; six have since been treated and released.

Gates responded, declared a Mass Casualty Incident, and additional resources were requested. The professionals in Monroe County and Rochester City Fire and EMS responded. Chili, Churchville, Greece, Henrietta were among the initial responders from the local region. Rochester City Fire and Airport Rescue responded with extrication tools and manpower. The commercial agencies, Rural Metro and Monroe Ambulance sent ambulances and personnel.

It’s flu season. The local hospitals were jammed. Space was made, people called in, trauma beds made available. One by one the ambulances rolled out with the injured.

The winds continued to blow. The air temperature was 13 and the wind was blowing with gusts over 20 mph. It was bitter cold and the blowing snow made conditions unbearable. These firefighters and EMS personnel did the impossible. They did their jobs.

More help was requested. Spencerport, Hilton, Perinton, Brighton and Irondequoit sent people and vehicles. A staging area was set up at the nearby Public Safety Training Center. People trapped in vehicles were cut and pried out of what was left of their cars. Ambulances continued to transport to the area hospitals.

Mercy Flight was on standby. Other ambulance and fire departments were alerted and manned their quarters or responded to other agencies to fill in for their crews who were out at the MCI.

Honeoye Falls, Brockport, Lima and East Rochester were all called upon. I’m certain I’ve left off some agencies because this was the largest incident in recent memory and a lot of people contributed.

Yes, East Rochester, my medic and I, were asked to fill in at Gates Ambulance base. Our part was very, very small; we never went to the scene and never had to cover a call for Gates. We were there in case someone in Gates needed an ambulance.

By 2:45 p.m. EST, the incident was over. All patients had been extricated and transported. The agencies involved began to recover their equipment and put their rigs back in service.

Curiously, in that two hour time frame, the county was unusually calm. There were a handful of calls but agencies like Henrietta and Gates that have a high call volume were very quiet. It’s as if there was a pause so we could devote ourselves to this disaster.

The lives of a great many people were changed today. The families of the dead and gravely injured, those who were injured or just were in the incident. And, the firefighters and EMS staff are also affected. This is one of those career calls, that everyone involved will remember their entire career. It’ll be the story the old farts tell. It will be the call by which future calls are measured.

As the crews began to return to Gates Base, I could see in their eyes and hear in their voices that change that I am all too familiar with. These brave folks now have an unforgettable memory of tragedy and success, of destruction and rescue. It may be a burden. It may be a blessing.

I cannot calculate the number of people who worked on this call this day. Well over a hundred men and women, mostly volunteers but paid folks too, all professionals. There are people alive this minute because of their work. In that two hour span, safety, succor, life was given as best as could be done by people from all walks of life, from all over the county, working together.

I am proud to be a part of the EMS community in Monroe County. Today shows why.

My poor wife. I left the base last evening a little late, doing the last PCR on the computer took a few minutes. I ended up being very late.

As I drove north on 590, a call went out for an auto accident. I could see somebody waving a flare so I eased over to the left and stopped. A confused elderly gentleman was nestled in the median after taking out a light pole. It was between Browncroft and Tryon Park. I called it in and went to see if I could help.

The median is a culvert in that area, 8 inches of running water surrounded by mud and a ten foot embankment.

Long story short, and nearly an hour later, I’m helping Irondequoit and Rural Metro remove the patient from his car on a backboard. Lots of fun in between the two moments.

I came home soaked to the skin, pelted with ice pellets and rain, and very enthused. I am an MVA junky and I got the perfect fix this evening. Pitch dark, rain and sleet and ice, running water and mud, and an extrication. It doesn’t get any better than that!

DVIDS
By U.S. Air Force Capt. Bob Everdeen
Provincial Reconstruction Team Qalat

In an area where Taliban attacks and improvised explosive devices are commonplace, a joint U.S. Air Force and Army team continues to build capacity for local civilians to treat injured people here.

During a graduation ceremony Jan. 8, five young Afghan men from Zabul province received certificates of completion for a three-month basic Emergency Medical Technician training course they recently completed here. The course was facilitated by Provincial Reconstruction Team Qalat and is similar to a basic first aid class or the military’s self-aid and buddy care training.

“We teach the students how to stop blood flow in an emergency situation and to provide care that will keep a patient alive long enough until more advanced medical experts arrive or until transportation—either by vehicle or aircraft—is available,” said Mobariz Shaheen, EMT course instructor.

In addition to basic EMT training, students receive two weeks of drivers training.

“This was the first class we’ve held with the current PRT,” Shaheen said, “and the next class will start in two weeks. We’ve held the class in previous years and some of the students continue their training with a nursing class. Eight of the 12 students from the last nursing class have found jobs at the Zabul Provincial Hospital.”

The EMT course is an important first step in helping to build capacity in a province that suffers from a paltry 15 percent literacy rate and a staggering 40 percent unemployment rate. The EMT graduates have taken the first step toward facilitating a reverse in these statistics and are an example of hope for the future of Afghanistan.

At the conclusion of the ceremony—which included the presentation of an individual basic EMT kit for each graduate—PRT Qalat EMT course facilitator Master Sgt. Keith Renken said, “We hope the training you’ve received during this course will help you to help your Afghan brothers and sisters.”

EMT graduate Basir Ahmad responded by saying, “We are all thankful to the PRT for all you have done for us.” And with that, the graduates said in unison, “Tashakor.” Thank you.