MNTF-E Medics conduct training in multisensory environment

By U.S. ArmyNovember 18, 2009

MNTF-E Medics conduct training in multisensory environment
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VILSECK, GERMANY -- Blood pools on the floor, smoke hangs in the air and the sound of gunfire fills the ears of the medics who are administering aid to casualties.

It's not a warzone; it's advanced medical training at the South Camp Medical Simulation Training Center (MSTC) in Vilseck, Germany, and about three dozen medics deployed with Multi-National Task Force-East recently went through the final phase of their training for the Kosovo Forces 12 mission.

While the blood, gunfire and casualties are all fake, the focus is real: Learn in a chaotic setting to be better prepared if a Soldier needs life-saving help.

The MSTC's multisensory training was designed to recreate every aspect of the battlefield in a controlled, simulated environment.

Richard Harper is the contract site manager/senior facilitator for the MSTC at South Camp, Rose Barracks, at Vilseck. He said all the trainers at the South Camp MSTC had prior military experience and worked to make the training as realistic as possible.

"We try to simulate a battlefield scenario with the smells, blood, sounds and lights going off in a limited visibility environment to stress the Soldier out as much as possible so it's not the first time they see it when they're downrange," Harper said.

During the training the medics were divided into two- or three-person teams and sent into rooms with no knowledge of what type of atmosphere to expect inside, only that there were simulated casualties that needed immediate aid.

Spc. Dennis Yi, Los Angeles, is one of 1-144th Maneuver Task Force's medics. Yi has been a medic for nine years.

"It was as perfect example of a mass casualty situation that I could find myself in," Yi said. "I think this is very good training, it's very important for all medics to go through."

Private 1st Class Ricardo Roncancio, Corona, Calif., another 1-144th MTF medic, agreed.

"I think we should do it, even when we're not going on a deployment," Roncancio said. "If you don't do it as a career, training like this really helps refresh your memory."

Harper said the main focus of the training center was to present a standardized medical training platform used for combat lifesavers, non-medical personnel and medics for advanced skills training. More than 1,400 medical and non-medical personnel are trained yearly at the MSTC.

"We try to get them to think on their feet and reinforce their critical-thinking skills," he added. "That's the biggest part."

All the training gives the medics an opportunity to adapt to challenges. It also serves to introduce medics to different techniques and the importance of communicating with team members.

"I think it gives us more of a sense of reality and urgency in our jobs," Yi said.

Roncancio said the training was necessary and he felt that his skills had been refreshed by it.

"I feel like I just got out of Advanced Individual Training, because it just brought back all that knowledge," he said, adding that the hands-on aspect was essential to medical training. "When you do it, it helps you remember the training better."

"When they leave out of here I hope they've learned the proper techniques to use downrange," Harper said. He added that he wanted the training to make the medics think before they go out to save their buddy and learn how to triage better on the battlefield.

"That way they'll save more lives downrange," he said.