Soldiers specializing in emergency medicine conduct train-the-trainer on the newly available Tactical Casualty Combat Care manikin kits May 16 at the Fort Jackson Training Support Center. These kits will be used across Fort Jackson to teach non-medic...

From left, Staff Sgt. Alexis Juarez, an infantryman at the Chaplain Center and School, and Staff Sgt. Craig Berg, a religious affairs specialist with the Chaplain Center and School, give advanced medical care during the Tactical Combat Casualty Care ...

Non-medical personnel across Fort Jackson will start seeing high-tech medical training soon as the Tactical Combat Casualty Care trauma manikin makes its debut. TC3X is an animatronic human with simulated wounds and injuries commonly found in combat zones.

"These are extremely realistic," said Staff Sgt. Ashlin Turley, an operations non-commissioned officer at Moncrief Army Health Clinic, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity-Fort Jackson. "The skin feels pretty close to an actual human being and the bleeding effects are very well done."

The TC3X trauma manikin is anatomically correct and weighs in at roughly 180 pounds. It comes complete with various blast style injuries that include amputated upper and lower extremities, fragment wound, broken bones, burns, tension pneumothorax and more. Self-healing patches along the arms and chest allow trainees to use various medical needles for needle decompression and intravenous access.

The training aids are remote controlled and come preloaded with 10 medical scenarios and can be programed with 10 additional customizable scenarios. Users can also simulate the rise and fall of an actual breathing human, and a headset allows the TC3X to speak and interact with trainees.

"I've not seen anything like this," said Staff Sgt. Anissa Rango, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment.

Rango, along with about a dozen others, attended the train-the-trainer class May 16 at the Training Support Center to learn how to deploy, operate, clean, store and train non-medical personnel using the system. While basic medical care of combat wounds is taught to all initial trainees on the installation, training with the new system will provide a teaching opportunity that reaches further than basic first aid care to wounded Soldiers on the battlefield.

"Their primary purpose is to train non-medical Soldiers to provide first responder care to wounded warriors in combat until medical personnel can get there," said Steven Jenkins, an expert military analysis with PEO STRI, who helped provide the training.

The students were surprised to discover that the manikins are anatomically correct. The kits currently contain male genitalia, but female genitalia kits will soon be available. While the subject may be awkward for some students to speak about, wounds to these regions of the body are often found in ground forces, such as infantryman on foot patrol, when they receive blast wounds from improvised explosive devices or vehicle-born improvised explosive devices. Since the integration of female Soldiers in combat roles, injuries such as these will become common for them as well.

"Soldiers may feel uncomfortable dealing with the female body because of the stigma that can be associated with (touching)," Turley said. "This give them the training opportunity and the stress of 'I have to actually treat a female.'"

Once students complete the train-the-trainer class at TSC, they can sign the TC3X kits out from the center and begin providing advanced medical training.

"It better simulates battlefield injuries and provides a lot better training opportunities to (all) Soldiers," Turley said. "It absolutely can help save lives."