354th MDG integrates to accomplish goals

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Janine Thibault
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  The 354th Medical Group is comprised of a variety of different fields of clinical practice and administration that must work seamlessly together to successfully accomplish emergency responses. This teamwork was recently put to the test.

One of the main focuses of the operational readiness exercise held March 7 to 11 was on emergency management procedures. During a catastrophe or major event, medical staff members fulfill multiple roles in order to save lives and prevent further loss of life.

"It was pretty much rapid fire with evaluators standing over your shoulder," said Maj. Edward Cassin, 354 MDG administrator.

During an exercise event held March 8, the MDG was responsible for immunizing Airmen who had been contaminated by a biological agent. They implemented their plan allowing Airmen to rotate through the medical facility visiting each section that could provide the proper care for the situation.

The areas involved in the exercise incidents included: the crisis response teams from mental health, public health, bioenvironmental, laboratory, pharmacy, clinical medicine, and the flight surgeon. The medical staff communicated with patients to explain the process, calm patients, and give vaccinations. They had treatment teams prepared to give medication, physicians present to write prescriptions, and mental health available for questions.

"During this inject we exercised the plan to care for mass amounts of people. It's really interesting because it has a lot of moving parts," said Capt. Brian Smith, 354th Medical Operations Squadron director of emergency medical services.

Captain Smith experienced these moving parts during the ORE because of his dual roles in emergency management and public health. He was able to see the coordination and implementation of both jobs.

The nature of clinic work does not allow the staff to cancel or reschedule real-world appointment to respond to exercise tasks. Therefore, medical personnel have to respond to real-world and exercise requirements.

"Appointments are no different than the flying operations that are maintained during an ORE, we too have our flying event but that includes providing real world patient healthcare," said Master Sgt. Jay Boesch, 354th Medical Support Squadron superintendent. "Patients see this when clinic staff respond to an event and service takes longer than normal. Patient understanding goes a long way to help clinic staff who are stretched thin from supporting both real-world and exercise events."

Emergency medical responders are utilized in a large number of exercise scenarios since they are often required by the incident commander.

"About 90 percent of exercise events require medical support and we respond to all," said Major Cassin.

Emergency responders must be prepared to take care of real-world emergencies, which means other healthcare workers must be qualified and able to fulfill the missing member's function at a moment's notice. Just like many other squadrons, healthcare workers must be flexible in their jobs and be capable of taking on the task of supporting personnel. This is key during the ORE, since any loss of capability could be costly to the Airmen they support.

The medical team is a critical group in ORE operations as well as day-to-day tasks. By working among Airmen from other medical fields the team is able to perform seamlessly in an ORE as well as during real emergency crisis situations.