US Army soldier Maj. Kmiecik, 8th Forward Resuscitative Surgical
Detachment, speaking with Mongolian WHO (World Health Organization) and Red Cross/Red Crescent members of the National EOC simulation. (Courtesy photo by U.S. Army Soldier)

U.S. Medical Field Training Exercise delegation (including 8th FRSD) with
NEMA counterparts at the exercise site. (Courtesy photo by U.S. Army Soldier)

U.S. Army soldier Capt. Amrein, 8th Forward Resuscitative Surgical
Detachment, observe a patient movement lane from triage to intake. (Courtesy
photo by U.S. Army Soldier)

A US Army soldier from 8th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment
fine-tunes the English to Mongolian translation for the table top exercise
with a translator. (Courtesy photo by U.S. Army soldier)

Bayankhongor, Mongolia – The 18th Medical Command (Deployment Support) sent emergency medicine experts to Mongolia to perform an exchange of field medicine and disaster response principles like triage, patient evacuation management, surgical intervention and prolonged casualty care.

Exercise Gobi Wolf 2022 is a civil and military training exercise aimed at assessing multilateral and interagency coordination in response to a natural disaster, Sept. 5 – 11, 2022.

“Disaster Response Exercises and Exchanges are another avenue for Army Medicine to test interoperability with partners,” said Lt. Col. Thorbjorn Persson, 8th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment Nurse Anesthetist. “The medical response and capabilities needed to respond to a disaster are similar to what we plan for, and execute, during combat scenarios.”

GW2022 was a follow on engagement for 18th Medical Command, who in 2019 executed a biomedical maintenance and medical logistics exchange with Mongolia’s United Nations Level 2 Deployable Hospital. The lessons learned from the 2019 engagement were built upon during Gobi Wolf 2022 as best practices for triage and prolonged casualty care were exchanged.

“This exercise was an opportunity to exchange medical expertise on disaster medicine” said Maj. Karl Kmiecik, an Emergency Medicine Physician with 8th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment.

One of the areas of collaboration was the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

The NIMS doctrine provides guidance for government, non-government, and the private sector on how to respond and recover from an incident. NIMS is a standardized approach to incident management and was developed by the Department of Homeland Security in 2004.

Capt. Zane Amrein, an Intensive Care Unit Nurse, said, “This exercise allowed us to execute a mass casualty scenario and validate the National Incident Management System (NIMS) with a partner nation.”

“Thirty-six Mongolian first responders, medical providers, and Armed Forces personnel collaborated with 18th Medical Command on medical leadership challenges throughout the field training exercise. Simultaneously, U.S. Army combat medics taught point of injury care to first responders so that they were better prepared for the culminating mass casualty event at the conclusion of the exercise.” said Maj. Karl Kmiecik.

“Gobi Wolf provided an invaluable opportunity to gain critical trust with our Allied Partners. Relationships matter – and strong relationships only form when you put boots on the ground to build capacity and capability alongside one another.” said Brig Gen. Paula Lodi, 18th Medical Command (Deployment Support) Commanding General. “As the Theater Medical Command, it is our responsibility to exercise multinational interoperability in a joint environment so we can perform and win during Humanitarian Assistance, Disaster Relief, and Large Scale Combat Operations”.