FORT BENNING, Ga., (Oct. 21, 2015) -- The 1st Battalion (Airborne), 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment teamed up with Directorate of Emergency Services and Martin Army Community Hospital for mass casualty training Oct. 19 near Lawson Army Airfield.
Shawn Sullivan, safety specialist for 507th PIR, said the purpose of the exercise was to test the emergency systems throughout Fort Benning to see if they have the capabilities to react to a large-scale incident.
"This is the first time an exercise this big has happened on Fort Benning," Sullivan said. "There have been a few incidents on a smaller scale with numerous injuries and we just want to make sure that in this event we provide the best possible care to the Soldiers and students that come here."
The MASCAL training scenario included a C-130 loaded with jump school students from the 507th.
"An aircraft had just taken off from Lawson in preparation for a jump onto Fryar Drop Zone, and they crashed immediately on take off," said Capt. Jesse Sheehan, battalion operations officer, 1st Bn., 507th PIR.
After the simulated plane crash, the 507th notified the tower, 911 and MACH.
Sheehan said the most important thing for the 507th was accountability.
"(We want to know) do the systems we have in place effectively track people moving from point A to Point B?" Sheehan asked.
In order to properly account for Soldiers, each person in the simulated accident was issued a fake ID card.
"When you jump you have to have your ID cards, so we made fake ID cards and on the back are what injuries they sustained. The EMS personnel will come up and check who the Soldier is and that ID card will let them know what their injury is," he said.
Rescue workers assessed and prioritized injuries on the scene and moved injured Soldiers to green, yellow and red zones. The walking wounded were sent to the green zone, more heavily injured Soldiers went to the yellow zone and those in critical condition were sent to the red zone.
"Essentially the worst injuries get loaded first," Sheehan said. "They will stress their systems as much as possible EVAC-wise and get as many that need it out immediately."
Sheehan said MASCAL events are beneficial for emergency responders because it allows them to see where their systems are flawed.
"It could be anywhere from the notification process to the number of ambulances, to what more medical supplies do we need to have on hand," he said.
Sullivan said an after-action review would be completed after the exercise.
"We will determine what needs to be fixed and then we'll get with the department heads from each section and go from there," he said.
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