FORT STEWART, Ga., Aug. 29, 2011 -- Third Infantry Division is deploying again to oversee the end of the American mission in Iraq. At the division's Command Post Exercise to train for the upcoming deployment, Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 3rd ID medics conducted a mass casualty exercise, at Evans Army Airfield, Aug. 18.
"We're going to simulate incoming rounds into a populated area," said Dr. (Maj.) Dale Sharp, a physician's assistant with Headquarters Support Company, Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, or DHHB, Third Infantry Division. "We're going to have eight to nine simulated casualties. We will then execute a response. Combat lifesavers and Marne Warrior first responders, along with casualty evacuation vehicles will go down to the area, they'll sweep the area, look for casualties dress them up take care of them immediately and then they are to bring them up to the battalion aid station where they will be further taken care of as casualties, and we will prep and package them for helicopter evacuation if needed or we take care of them locally."
The Battalion Aid Station noncommissioned officer in-charge, Sgt. Linsey McCray, said training like this is good for her young Soldiers to get a chance to work with other medics in a real-world setting.
"The thing the medic has to learn how to do is slow down, really think about what they're doing, not pay attention so much to the outside factors and just concentrate on the patient as well as learning how to communicate with the other medics they're working with," she continued.
Major Sharp agreed this kind of training is very important for the young Soldiers to understand what they will be facing.
"The first thing that happens in a real MASCAL (mass casualty) situation, or even if you have one seriously wounded Soldier is, you panic," he continued. "So what we want to do is practice the panic out of everyone so that a response literally becomes routine just like anything else in life. You want to train something so routinely that it becomes a natural response. That's the whole purpose for the MASCAL."
Given the uncertain nature of this deployment the division medics are preparing for multiple scenarios as well.
Sharp added that the team is preparing for setting up shop at multiple locations and will be able to adapt to the conditions they are given. The team will be providing sick call hours and take care of the Soldiers as well.
For McCray, the young medics who will be deploying are capable of doing well not only during this exercise, but also in combat.
"They've done a really good job of adapting to Army life," she said "All of them are ready to deploy and willing to deploy. I think that says a lot about them as Soldiers."
The division medics are going to be conducting another MASCAL exercise during the Mission Readiness Exercise in September in preparation for the deployment.
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