Soldiers from C Company "Dustoff," 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, competed in a "Best Flight Medic, Crew Chief and Co-pilot" competition March 9-13 on Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield.
The grueling five-day competition put the MEDEVAC Soldiers' skills and military occupational specialty knowledge to the test in a fast-paced, realistic training environment.
"The purpose of the training was to test our abilities as a MEDEVAC company as well as engage everyone to keep their skills sharp while taking part in a little friendly competition," said Staff Sgt. Sam Garced, a flight medic from C Company, 3-10 Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Earning the crown in their respective areas of expertise were Sgt. Martin Tate, Best Flight Medic; Spc. Justin Pavlica, Best Crew Chief; and Warrant Officer Brian McPhail, Best Co-pilot.
Day one of the competition began with a knowledge board where Soldiers were asked a minimum of 75 questions specific to their military occupational specialty while being evaluated by the battalion surgeon, unit medical instructor, standardization pilot and standardization instructors.
"The questions during the board were in-depth," said Pavlica, an HH-60M crew chief from C Company, 3-10 Aviation Regiment. "You could definitely tell the board members were aiming their questions at you to determine how much you actually know about your job, the manuals, regulations and aircraft maintenance."
After the board, the competitors were alerted and scrambled to respond to a mass casualty scenario requiring the treatment and transport of seven patients from the point of injury in the training area north of post.
Once at the point of injury, the flight medics had to work in teams of two to assess, treat and prepare the casualties for transport to a forward surgical team while experiencing simulated enemy small-arms, heavy machine-gun and indirect fire.
Much like in real-world situations, the MEDEVAC crew's day was not over after treating and delivering their patients to the FST. The crews still needed to transport four post-operative patients, to include a pediatric patient, to higher levels of medical care, which was located at the Medical Simulation Training Center on post.
The training exercise incorporated multi-echelon post resources to include the MSTC, Range Control, 3-10 Aviation Regiment staff and the Fort Drum Training Support Center.
"The crew members are exhausted at the end of the MASCAL (mass-casualty) exercise, both physically and mentally," said Garced. "Racking your brain and working as a crew to keep these people alive with limited resources for 40 minutes of flight is very challenging."
While providing in-flight care, flight medics and crew chiefs are typically responsible for maintaining their patients' airways, circulation, sedation and life support until their handoff with higher levels of medical care is complete.
"It's always challenging in the back of the aircraft," Pavlica said. "Outside of deployments, we don't get too much face time with these kinds of situations. "The most challenging part was during the flight portion of the competition," he added.
During this process, both flight medics and crew chiefs were graded on the quality of care they were able to provide to their patients as well as their ability to perform their crew functions and relay information in a high-stress environment.
The competition was a success for the 10th CAB's MEDEVAC Company and helped build esprit de corps among the ranks. Soldiers from the company are looking forward to future quarterly sustainment training events.
Soldiers of C Company, 3-10 Aviation Regiment are preparing for their third rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., since September of last year, scheduled to occur this month, with another rotation set for June of t
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