Turning an empty parking lot into a fully-functioning combat support hospital is no small feat. Complete with an operating room, intensive care units, EMT stations, a full pharmacy and lab, along with a chapel, laundry service, signal center, maintenance sections, and dining facility - a CSH is practically a self-sufficient operating base.
Having the entire place set up in a mere 72 hours was just another example of the Soldiers of 30th Medical Command's, 212th Combat Support Hospital setting the standard.
Headquartered out of Miesau, the 212th CSH deployed to the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels recently, to demonstrate the readiness of the unit and to exercise the crucial tasks involved with deploying to a field site, establishing a hospital and conducting various sustainment operations.
Complete with mass casualty events and integrated with various other army warrior tasks, the month-long training also served as an opportunity to assist with the preparation of the Soldiers of Task Force Med Falcon, according to the hospital's executive officer.
"We, as the 212th CSH, are here operating under a notional exercise to prepare for any future possible deployments," explained Maj. Joseph Bowman, 212th CSH XO. We also have the dual mission of preparing TF Med Falcon for their upcoming deployment to Kosovo."
This was a prime opportunity for the Army Reserve Soldiers of the Task Force to build their team while gaining experience working alongside one another.
"It's more of a hand-in-hand FTX. Notional, scripted events take place while at the same time providing subject matter experts and real-world facilities for the reservists of TF Med Falcon before they go to Camp Bondsteel," said Bowman.
While the JMRC afforded the Soldiers of 212th CSH and TF Med Falcon the opportunity to execute safe and realistic training, it also enabled them to incorporate real-world scenarios into the FTX. While at the JMRC, the hospital saw more than 200 live patients on sick call, and conducted five live surgeries.
The numerous missions taking place at any given time and at various locations in and around the hospital, every function relies on several separate missions to ensure overall success. In the case of the combat support hospital, this success will lead to saving Soldiers' lives.
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