FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (June 9, 2015) -- For Womack Army Medical Center, June 5 was a bad day to be at Fort Bragg.
It started after lunch, when shots echoed throughout the WAMC Health and Support Center, Troop and Family Medical Clinic, Clark Health Clinic, Joel Health and Dental Clinic, Robinson Health Clinic, Hope Mills Medical Home and Fayetteville Medical Home as screams filled the air.
The shots were blanks, but the screams were real as gunmen charged through each the clinics, firing at anyone who got in their way. At each site, security forces took down the threat, allowing medical staff to reenter the building to treat those notionally injured during the exercise. Casualties from each clinic were evacuated to the main hospital for treatment the clinics were unable to provide.
A few hours later, a small airplane collided with a C-17 loaded with paratroopers heading to Holland Drop Zone. The injured were transported to Womack Army Medical Center, resulting in 84 patients being treated at the hospital.
Both incidents were part of a mass casualty exercise designed to test the staff at Womack Army Medical Center and the outlying clinics as much as possible. Staff recall procedures, communication, resources and patient care were some of the capabilities evaluated during the nine-hour training exercise that started at 1 p.m. and continued until 10 p.m.
"The medical response tempo at Fort Bragg is fairly brisk and we see all types of emergencies, but from time to time we need to conduct specific training exercises to make sure we are prepared for a range of contingencies," said Col. John Melton, chief of staff, Womack Army Medical Center. "We need to set aside times to have these self-evaluations, to see if we are on track."
Lt. Col. Anthony Portee, officer in charge, Clark Health Clinic, said that the active shooter training was very successful and provided the clinic with the opportunity to assess its emergency plan.
"What we did extremely well is how we reacted to the shooter," said Portee. "In incidents like this, there can be mass chaos. Getting order back can be the challenge, but we had people responding well, especially in triage."
The influx of patients at the hospital after the active shooter scenarios and the simulated plane crash tested the abilities of all the WAMC staff, especially those working in the emergency departments and the operating rooms.
"This training is important because it gives us the opportunity to learn the different systems we have here," said Maj. Joe Lister, an emergency room nurse who was serving as a triage unit leader during the plane crash portion of the exercise. "It helps build teamwork and allows you to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of the people you work with so in a real event you're more prepared."
Leaders from across WAMC have been planning the exercise for months and designed it to span a shift change, as well as the end of the duty day in order see how the staff was able to respond to emergencies during those critical times.
"Leadership committing to training to this extent is not uncommon for Womack Army Medical Center," said Marsha Lunt, emergency manager, WAMC. "What was unprecedented was conducting an exercise after duty hours."
More than 70 Soldiers from various units on post provided support and showed up at the hospital at various times to create chaos and overwhelm the system. Lunt said that the exercise resulted in unprecedented participation and realism.
"I do not know of another hospital, military or civilian, that conducts the level of readiness training that took place Friday evening," she said.
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