VICENZA, Italy -- Army medical specialists and licensed practical nurses from U.S. Army Health Center-Vicenza, 173rd Airborne Brigade and U.S. Army Africa joined efforts Aug. 24 at the first collaborative Medical Skills Fair at the Health Center.
The collaborative opportunity, organized by Maj. Maria Bruton, USAHC-Vicenza deputy commander of Nursing Services, Capt. Jacqueline Hurtado, nursing officer in charge, and Capt. Adam Rich, 173rd Abn. Bde. nurse, was intended to provide useful, practical training for unit medical resources in preparation for real-life events.
Registered nurses and medical providers from the participating units manned 13 tables, educating and reviewing skills varying in difficulty from taking vital signs to performing life-saving invasive care such as chest tube insertion. The opportunity provided not just didactic training, but also hands-on and interactive skills education and evaluation.
"These Soldiers have to be ready to forward deploy, and we have the joint responsibility to ensure they are ready," said Bruton. "We had a very positive response to the training here today, and are looking forward to even more collaborative training initiatives."
In all, 70 Soldiers and staff members from Caserma Del Din and Caserma Ederle received training on medical skills aligned with a forward-deployed setting's needs. Facilitators indicated this initiative will take place every six months on this large scale, augmented with monthly, smaller training on focused topics.
Additionally, the medics will be attending "Sky Soldier" jumps to maintain and refresh their medical triage and first aid skills in the near future.
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