For the Soldiers of Bravo Company 121st Combat Support Hospital (CSH), training is a serious part of the daily routine these past few weeks at Yongsan Army Garrison, South Korea.
During the recent peninsula wide exercise known as Key Resolve 15 (KR15), these clinicians, technicians, and highly trained professionals performed live surgical procedures in a field environment providing the same quality of care that is normally given at the Brian Allgood Army Community Hospital.
The only difference was it was conducted in modular field tents under battlefield conditions.
"Key Resolve allowed us to 'stand up' our critical care corridor, the lifeblood of the CSH," said Col. Mark Reeves, commander of the 121st CSH. "We demonstrated and validated our capability in providing patient care using real live patients in a variety of elective surgeries."
"Awesome," was one word that Pvt. 1st Class Andrew Norman, from the 532nd Military Intelligence Battalion at Camp Humphreys, could not repeat enough. "When I heard about the call for volunteers for live surgical procedures, I volunteered. The quality of care shown to me was pretty cool and awesome; I am amazed at how the set up was so organized."
A new soldier to the Army, the Las Vegas native had confidence in the staff of the CSH. "I came here for a panniculectomy (a type of abdominoplasty designed to remove loose tissue from massive weight loss) and it was great to see all the support staff that would actually operate on me and talk to them throughout my procedure."
Accordinig to Norman, this was something he might not have experienced at a regular medical treatment facility. "You see a nurse or a doctor, but rarely see those that assist behind the scenes."
The 'Critical Care Corridor' consists of the Operating Room (OR), an Intensive Care Unit recovery ward, Patient Administration, X-Ray and Pharmacy.
"Live surgery is our mission in the field, although these surgeries here are elective, volunteers are part of this process," said Sgt. 1st Class Luis A. Torres, of San Antonio, Texas and Puerto Rico native, who serves as the senior clinical noncommissioned officer in charge of the 121st CSH.
"What is truly being tested is the patient flow of care process from entry to emergency room thru admissions, radiology, pharmacy, pre-op, operating room and transport to ICU recovery. This is how, through surgery, we either return soldiers back to the battlefield or stabilize them to be sent to a higher role of care."
Teamwork was the theme of Bravo Company's success, which was a reflection on the 121st CSH vision.
According to B. Company Commander, Capt. Robert Chu, the unit excelled in hitting the highpoint of simple execution of providing quality patient care in austere conditions.
"Pushing patients through the critical corridor stressed our patient flow processes and validated our readiness and the OR capabilities to conduct live surgery in the event we transition to hostilities."
Throughout the exercise, the 'Critical Care Corridor' team conducted several surgical procedures just as they would at the BAACH while continuously training Soldiers in the medical profession all within a field environment.
The 121CSH was the only unit on the peninsula to perform its wartime mission through the actual execution of live surgeries and patient care.
The rest of the military simulated their involvement in KR15 through battlefield scenarios.
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