FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Fort Carson Fire Emergency Services and 4th Combat Aviation Brigade partnered to train for a high-altitude incident involving a simulated downed aircraft with four personnel onboard at one of the Fort Carson Mountain Training Areas.
High-altitude training consisted of three phases; crawl, walk and run. Phase one, crawl, allowed the Soldiers and FCFES to familiarize themselves with the aircraft and the communications plans.
“There are communications that need to be exercised,” said Joshua Hosack, Fort Carson assistant fire chief for training. “Aircraft operate on different frequencies than units on the ground. We must ensure our communications are compatible and operable during the operation.”
In phase two, walk, Fort Carson firefighters practiced utilizing the hoist and rescue seat. 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion with 4th Combat Aviation Brigade was assigned to help medically evacuate the firefighters and then the injured personnel within the scenario.
“The aircrew picked the team up at Station 33, flew to Foxtrot Sod and lowered them to the ground,” said Hosack. “They then picked up the stokes basket with the patient secured inside.”
In the final phase, run, the crash was reported to the tower to alert the primary crash phone. A crew then taxied to the station to pick up the recon crew and gear. Once the crew arrived and assessed the situation, they would call back to request back up. They began to extract the injured personnel from the downed aircraft and transported them to Memorial Central. Once the person was transported, the exercise ended.
“At the end of the day, we are comfortable that if an incident happened in the immediate future, both our units would be able to accomplish the mission,” said Hosack.
These trainings help bring familiarization to the aircraft, safe operating procedures, having the correct personnel in attendance, and correct resources. Trainings also help recognize the improvements that need to be made to ensure the mission runs smoothly.
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