NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION -- Nearly 200 members from the 914th Aeromedical Staging Squadron met with members of the 914th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron for a joint training exercise on May 2, 2016 on base. Members focused on hands-on medical field training as well as loading and unloading patients onto a C-130 Hercules and an ambulance.
“We’re training the ground crew how to load litters onto an aircraft,” said Capt. Laurieann Quiry, 914 AES flight nurse. “In a real world scenario we would be on the flight line, usually with engines running because we have to move quickly or we’re on a very short timeline.”
Time is an extremely important factor for injured patients who need to receive critical medical care. Due to the nature and severity of the patient’s injuries, receiving timely medical care can mean the difference between life and death. With a limited window to load patients, this can be a hectic situation for the less experienced members who have never loaded an aircraft.
“It can be very intimidating when you go up to a plane and they’re yelling “Come to me, come to me!” said Capt. John Copas, Enroute Patient Staging System coordinator and 914 ASTS nurse. “We’re going to explain why that’s happening.”
To introduce the participants to the different components of an ERPSS mission, Copas and Tech. Sgt. Nela Contreras, Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of the exercise, created a variety of training areas around the base. These included building a field tent and direct patient care aspects such chest tube insertion, changing surgical dressings, and starting IV’s.
“They see bits and pieces of training,” said Contreras of the medical technicians. “This is a more complete view of what they do.”
With the successful completion of this mission, Copas hopes to see more joint training missions in the future.