YONGSAN GARRISON, Republic of Korea - Soldiers from Eighth Army, Airmen from the 7th Air Force and medical personnel from the Republic of Korea Armed Forces Il-Dong Hospital conducted a combined, joint medical evacuation exercise called "Dragonlift" March 15, 2016 throughout the Korean Peninsula. The annual exercise is aimed at increasing the combined readiness of medical response personnel stationed here.
The exercise kicked off with Soldiers portraying victims of a mass casualty event being evacuated by three UH-60 Blackhawk's from the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex near Pocheon, South Korea to a Combat Support Hospital (C.S.H.) outside the ROK Armed Forces Il-dong Hospital. As Soldiers arrived at the C.S.H., U.S. and ROK medical personnel worked together in a combined medical facility to assess injuries, treat patients, and route serious injuries to a major trauma center located somewhere else on the peninsula.
"The overall architecture of the operation is to simulate the combined and joint patient mass casualty evacuation scenario," said Maj. Steven Duryea, the Eighth Army Medical Evacuation Officer. "We are looking for gaps and seams where the ROK and U.S. can work together to help out. We cap it off by using Air Force assets to evacuate them out of theater."
Prior to take-off, Col. Andrew Friedman, U.S. Forces Korea and Eighth Army Surgeon, spoke on the importance of the exercise and the benefits of working in a combined, joint environment.
"We do this Dragonlift exercise once or twice a year," said Friedman. "The purpose is to train our medical personnel in evaluating casualties and to test our medical evacuation system from both the ground and the air."
"I have been here for two or three years now…and this particular iteration is probably the best I have ever seen. This year we are flying our (mock) casualties into a ROK Army hospital with a U.S. Combat Surgical Hospital set up outside. Once they are treated we transport them to a secondary location and then simulate an evacuation off the peninsula with a C-130 (Globemaster). It is truly a joint and a combined effort."
With readiness at a premium on the peninsula, Friedman stressed the importance of making the exercise as realistic as possible to identify areas for improvement.
"We are practicing the skills and techniques that we would have to use in combat, not just in procedures, but also in logistics," explained Friedman. "Our job in the medical world is to make sure we save lives, and we maintain our fighting strength. This is how you do it. Our purpose is to return those back to the fight who can and get those who can't home as quick as possible to their families in good health."
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