445th AMDS part of Key West training

  • Published
  • By Capt. Rodney McNany
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Getting 70 aircrew members signed off on tri-annual water and combat continuation training in two days is no easy feat, doing it in a TDY location as close to a realistic environment as possible and doing it safely is another story. One safety factor was involving the 445th Aerospace Medicine Squadron into the training realm.

According to Lt. Col. David Deluca, 89th Airlift Squadron assistant operations officer and former training officer, planning and coordination begins six months out, which means planning for the next training session in March is already underway.

"A lot goes into the preparation and planning of a mission of this magnitude. It takes more than just a few weeks to plan such a training exercise," Colonel Deluca said.

He also added the training value is an asset.

"We've been able to get a large number of aircrew signed off on training since 2009 in a very short time period (three days) and in a realistic environment," Colonel Deluca said. He went on to say, "The number and speed in which we do it isn't nearly as important as doing it safely."

Colonel DeLuca pointed out that according to Capt. Jason Smith, who was recently seen on the Discovery Channel as the doctor to the US Army Special Forces Underwater Operations School located at Trumbo Point Annex of Naval Air Station Key West, Fla., the 445th Airlift Wing builds in more safety elements and operational risk management factors than any other unit that comes there for training.

"When it comes to safety you can't over communicate and you can't coordinate too much." First we put in a request for our own medical support to accompany us. Second we arrive with an advance team that spends three days of face time with all of the supporting units, such as the U.S. Navy Port Operations, Air Operations, Dive School, etc. On the day before our training begins, we conduct a joint brief that includes a representative of all those units. They all know we are, why we're here, and what we will be doing...no surprises," Colonel Deluca said.

The 445th AMDS supported the training event by sending a team that consisted of two flight surgeons, a registered nurse and a medical technician. Leading the AMDS medical team was Lt. Col. (Dr.) Phillip Carr, a 40 year veteran along with Lt. Col. (Dr.) Jeff Beery.

"Our responsibility during the TDY to Key West was to render first aid and respond to any emergency situations, and the coordination with our hosts on providing transport and any necessary equipment," Doctor Carr explained.

Part of that coordination took place with a face-to-face meeting with the 445th AMDS nurse, Maj. Anna Kaus, who was accompanied by medical technician Master Sgt. Mark Fellows and Captain Smith, the dive school doctor. Long before that meeting, other discussions had to take place.

"We began with a committee that discussed the environment and considered the type of training to make an educated guess as to what kind of medical issues we would likely encounter. After that, we put together a package of medications and supplies we thought we would need for the TDY," Major Kaus said.

Sergeant Fellows said, "We can't bring everything but we're prepared for insect bites, cuts, abrasions, sprains, broken bones...we even have an AED (automatic external defibulator)."

Major Kaus, who deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq for six months in 2009, said, "Supporting an exercise like this not only provides necessary training for the aircrew but gives valuable on the job training for annual training requirements for us too."

As aircrew, the flight surgeons have been through the training in other venues that were less then optimal. The base pool and Bass Lake were frequent alternatives for fulfilling the requirements.

"This training is as good as it gets. It's as close to real as you can get without being overtly dangerous," Doctor Beery said.

Doctor Carr added, "TDY exercises of this nature are exciting, builds camaraderie and is actually fun. This is the kind of training that keeps people in the reserves. "