A U.S. Army Soldier (right), with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, applies pressure to a notional chest wound on a moulaged Soldier, with 113 Financial Management Support Detachment, 101 Airborne Division, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
A U.S. Army combat lifesaver (left), with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, notionally treats a moulaged Soldier, with 113 Financial Management Support Detachment, 101 Airborne Division, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives it that is what if comes to.
U.S. Army combat lifesavers run with a litter to evacuate moulaged Soldiers imitating casualties during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat lifesavers work to transport a moulaged Soldier, with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
A U.S. Army combat lifesaver pulls a moulaged Soldier into a vehicle during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
A U.S. Navy corpsman administers notional medical care to a moulaged Soldier, with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat lifesavers and a U.S. Navy corpsman lifts a moulaged Soldier, with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, for medical evacuation during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat lifesavers and a U.S. Marine transport a moulaged Soldier, with 113 Financial Management Support Detachment, 101 Airborne Division, into the Troop Medical Clinic during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
A moulaged U.S. Army Soldier (center), with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, receives notional medical care at the Troop Medical Clinic from combat medics, with 38th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan, Indiana National Guard, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat medics, with 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment, 96th Troop Command, Washington Army National Guard, look at dog tags on a moulaged Soldier during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
A moulaged U.S. Army Soldier (lying) receives notional medical care at the Troop Medical Clinic from a medical provider (center), with 38th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan, Indiana National Guard, and combat medics, with 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment, 96th Troop Command, Washington Army National Guard, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
A moulaged U.S. Army Soldier (lying) receives notional medical care at the Troop Medical Clinic from a medical provider (center), with 38th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan, Indiana National Guard, and combat medics, with 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment, 96th Troop Command, Washington Army National Guard, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat lifesavers transport a moulaged Soldier into the Troop Medical Clinic during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat lifesavers provide notional medical care to moulaged Soldiers during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
A U.S. Army combat lifesaver treats a notional sucking chest wound on a moulaged Soldier, with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat lifesavers work to cover and transport a moulaged Soldier (center), with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat medics, with 38th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan, Indiana National Guard, provide notional medical care to a moulaged Soldier, with 655 Regional Support Group, 316 Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 377 Theater Sustainment Command, during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat lifesavers transport a moulaged Soldier, with 113 Financial Management Support Detachment, 101 Airborne Division, into the Troop Medical Clinic during a Massive Casualty Exercise at Joint Training Center-Jordan in January. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat medics and health care providers, with 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment, 96th Troop Command, Washington Army National Guard, and 38th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan, Indiana National Guard, pose for a group photo outside the Troop Medical Clinic at Joint Training Center-Jordan. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
U.S. Army combat medics and health care providers, with 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment, 96th Troop Command, Washington Army National Guard, and 38th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan, Indiana National Guard, pose for a photo with medical equipment outside the Troop Medical Clinic at Joint Training Center-Jordan. We still have the greatest Army in the world. We serve the people of the United States and we are going to protect them with our lives if that is what it comes to.
JORDAN - Someday you'll be alone, way out there in a combat zone
Bullets flying all around, keep your head close to the ground
Don't you worry about being alone, Medics will bring you home!
This marching cadence emphasizes the grave responsibility of medical personnel in the military. When sick or injured, there is no better sight than the face of a combat medic. Medics take care of Soldiers on and off the battlefield, for routine and emergency services.
U.S. Army Maj. Michael Summitt, 38th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan, Indiana National Guard, is the medical provider and officer in charge at Joint Training Center-Jordan's (JTC-J) troop medical clinic. He has served 33 years in the military, 22 as an enlisted combat medic. In the civilian sector, he works in the radiation oncology department at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
"A minor oversight or misstep can have tragic consequences for a patient," said Summitt, "The more eyes on a medical situation, the better the outcome will likely be."
Medical personnel needs to practice just as with any other military occupational specialty in the Army. Soldiers must be ready to conduct the full range of military operations, regardless of the threats they pose. To facilitate this, JTC-J held a mass casualty (MASCAL) exercise. "Injured" Soldiers displayed artificial wounds made realistic by moulage.
"Without moulage, the simulated patient would have to describe their injuries, which takes away a significant degree of realism, thereby reducing the impact of the training," said Summitt.
One Soldier who appreciated the MASCAL exercise was U.S. Army Pfc. Awnna Donahue, a combat medic with 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment, 96th Troop Command, Washington Army National Guard.
"I personally worked with Maj. Summitt and he showed me a lot of new techniques that were very helpful and effective ways to deal with patients while under a lot of stress," Donahue said.
Combat medics are essential to the military, but they can only work on one person at a time, treating the most severe first. If there are multiple casualties, or the medic is injured, combat lifesavers are instrumental. They are trained to provide immediate care categorized as care under fire, tactical field care and tactical evacuation.
"Combat lifesavers are, usually, among the first to encounter a casualty at the scene of the injury," said Summitt.
About 90 percent of combat deaths occur on the battlefield before the casualties reach a medical treatment facility, according to the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School Department of Combat Medic Training. Proper use of self-aid, buddy-aid and combat lifesaver skills can reduce battlefield deaths by 15 to 18 percent, by some estimates.
"MASCAL exercises help keep everyone fresh on the procedures and policies ... everyone from buddy-aid and combat lifesavers to the medical providers" said Summitt. "It also allows the medical personnel to locate our weaknesses and to better improve our procedures."
Summitt said MASCALs can be noisy and chaotic. During the exercise, nonmedical personnel administered buddy-aid to "injured" Soldiers and helped transport patients to the troop medical center. Medical providers were then able to assess and treat the Soldiers.
"When we do have a medical crisis, it is important that our staff know their jobs and the jobs of others so they can fill in as needed," said Summitt. "In medicine, especially trauma or critical situations, hesitation can kill."
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