250th FST sets up portable hospital to demonstrate life-saving capabilities

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -As a way to integrate and welcome newly arrived surgeons to their team, and faced with a 90-minute timeline, Soldiers with the 250th Forward Surgical Team set up their portable hospital tents in their warehouse at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, July 29, 2014. The tents were left up after the exercise enabling them to usher guests from the newly arrived 1st Cavalry Div., in charge of Regional Command-South, through the portable hospital the next day.

"We left the tents up to give the new division surgeon and operations planners an opportunity to see our set up," said Maj. Anne Saladyga, the commander of the 250th. "It enables them to visualize what it entails when they plan to take along the FST on operations."

The 250th is a mobile surgical team, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., consisting of 20 personnel and a four-way hospital tent. Their primary mission is to provide far forward surgical support to wounded Soldiers. They've been in Afghanistan for about four and a half months and are half way through their deployment.

"How we are being used here is to extend the medevac range," said Saladyga. "We take patients that wouldn't survive the trip to higher level medical care and we stabilize them for transport."

Saladyga added that they have been under the operational control of 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Div., since they arrived in Afghanistan, and they have been moved around to different bases in the RC-S area by ground, fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.

"We're there to provide surgical care if they need it but also to give the Soldiers peace of mind in knowing that we're there," said Saladyga.

Staff Sgt. Eric Butler, operating room supervisor with the FST, said that at the beginning of their deployment they were a bit concerned about how well their operational and logistical needs would be met while under command of a combat unit. The FST has a requirement that they are able to set up the hospital and equipment in a forward area in 90 minutes.

"Once we started working with the 82nd, I realized that their quick movement and problem-solving abilities helped us with our supply, movement, and communications," said Butler. " They've been very receptive toward us. It's been a very, very good experience so far."

The 1st Cav. Div. surgeon, Lt. Col. William Porter, toured the display and recognized the importance of the FST.

"The FST provides damage control surgery, and without them a key link is lost. They are the interface between the combat medic and the hospital," he said.

He added that he was very familiar with the concept and mission of the FST's, but it was more important that non-medical officers and NCOs see the hospital display.

"It's important that the people in the operations world see this display because they are the ones that are going to seek to employ this capability and they need to know what the FST can and can't do," said Porter.

Over all he seemed impressed with the display and the 250th FST.

"Maj. Saladyga has put together a pretty good team that works hard and does what they need to do, and it's good to be associated with them," he said.