BAMC team wins regional 'Best Medic' competition

By John Franklin, Brooke Army Medical Center Public AffairsSeptember 24, 2015

SRMC Best Medic 2015
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SRMC Best Medic 2015
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SRMC Best Medic 2015
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A medic watches his teammate climb the ladder on the obstacle course as evaluators watch Sept. 19, 2015 during the Southern Regional Medical Command Best Medic Competition at Camp Bullis, Texas. The first medic must be coming down the ladder before t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
SRMC Best Medic 2015
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Army Sgt. Eric Pasman, Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital, triages a simulated casualty and provides battlefield aid during the Southern Regional Medical Command Best Medic Competition at Camp Bullis, Texas Sept. 18-20, 2015. An evaluator looks on ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
SRMC Best Medic 2015
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Army Capt. Carlos Bustamante, Winn Army Community Hospital, works to stop the bleeding on a simulated casualty Sept. 18, 2015 during the Southern Regional Medical Command Best Medic Competition at Camp Bullis, Texas. He is observed and scored on the... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CAMP BULLIS, Texas -- As the fog permeates the darkness of the early morning hours at Camp Bullis, teams of medics from throughout the Southern Regional Medical Command compete in a grueling 12-mile march hauling a 35-pound pack on their back and their weapon in hand. This was the final event in the three day competition to earn the title, "Best Medic."

Seven teams of Soldiers from medical treatment facilities across SRMC competed Sept. 18-20 to earn the coveted title, but it was the team from Brooke Army Medical Center, Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Eisele and Spc. Garrett Woodford who met the challenge.

"What I enjoyed most about the competition was getting out in the field and competing with great Soldiers," Woodford said.

BAMC planed, coordinated and executed the SRMC Best Medic Competition for the region.

"These competitors were challenged in a demanding, continuous, and realistic simulated operational environment," said Army Capt. Jose Capellan, officer in charge of the competition. "In the short time they spent with us at Camp Bullis they established lasting relationships and fostered espirit de corps. They reviewed and applied the concepts of the performance triad and continuously reflected on their role as professional Soldiers."

Friday morning, the Soldiers first had to complete the Army Physical Fitness Test before moving to the medical lanes where they were briefed on the scenario: two wounded Soldiers and one possible dead in a village under hostile fire.

Each team, followed by evaluators, was scored on their tactical approach to the area and the care they provided the combat casualties they encountered while machine gun fire, mortar blasts and smoke surrounded the area. The teams had only 35 minutes to move from the start point to the village, locate the casualties, provide immediate lifesaving aid, and move them safely to an evacuation point.

"The day combat trauma lane was definitely challenging," Eisele said. "Having to maneuver tactically through the woods and the city to get to your casualties and then treat them in the allowed time given and to do it all correctly was intense. We were double checking everything we did just to make sure we wouldn't lose any points."

Teams were also tested in weapons qualification firing both an M-16 rifle and M-6 pistol from a variety of positions, night medical lanes, night land navigation, an obstacle course, a 5K buddy run and written exam.

During medic-style buddy run the competitors faced some unique challenges. Each team was required to place a 165-pound casualty on a skid and pull it several hundred meters. The teams were then required to assemble a SINCGARS radio unit and call in a simulated medical evacuation request before they could continue. Near the finish line they encountered three simulated casualties which they needed to assess and load onto an ambulance before running to the finish line.

"The most challenging event was the 5K buddy run. After completing all of the other events leading up to that event we were already tired, so completing the 5K event was definitely difficult," Eisele said. "Having to pull the SKED with a casualty in it as far as we did was not easy at all. And then trying to put together a radio when my arms were so tired was very interesting."

Woodford agreed, "The most challenging events were the 5K and the 12 mile ruck march."

The final day, following the 12-mile march SRMC Commander Army Brig. Gen. Barbara Holcomb presented Eisele and Woodford Meritorious Service Medal for their outstanding performance and achievements during the competition. They also received the Outstanding Medical Corps Knife and a SRMC belt buckle.

"This competition gave BAMC the opportunity to improve the organization by providing tough, realistic training in a safe manner while being fiscally responsible," Capellan said. "The execution of the events gave us an opportunity to reconnect with battlefield medicine at the point of injury. At a medical facility as big and busy as BAMC this is something that is difficult to execute.

"My team planned, coordinated and executed the competition and they had fun doing it. This is why Soldiering is our vocation," he concluded.

Eisele and Woodford will represent SRMC and compete in the U.S. Army Medical Command CSM Jack L. Clark Jr. Best Medic Competition Oct. 28-30 at Camp Bullis.

"Moving into the next competition we now know what our strengths and weaknesses are and we plan to train accordingly. We have a lot of training to conduct such as learning about 25 different knots, combat water survival, and of course maintaining and gaining more strength in the gym. The bottom line is that we plan to prepare to win the Army Best Medic Competition," Eisele said.

"I just want to be as prepared as we possibly can be going into the Army Competition," Woodford added.

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