Capt. Paulencia Morris, 86th Dental Squadron dentist, examines the mouth of her patient during the Expeditionary Medical Support Exercise at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dec. 1, 2011. EMEDS was a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Groups to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards)
The 86th Medical Squadron Intensive Care Unit works to resuscitate a patient who is unresponsive in the Expeditionary Medical Support Exercise at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dec. 1, 2011. EMEDS was a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Groups to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards)
An 86th Medical Squadron surgeon uses forceps to mock a splenectomy, the removal of the spleen, on a patient who had mass abdominal damage from an improvised explosive device during the Expeditionary Medical Support Exercise at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dec. 1, 2011. EMEDS was a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Groups to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards)
Capt. Rian Suihkonen, 86th Dental Squadron dentist, prepares to examine the mouth of his patient during the Expeditionary Medical Support Exercise at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dec. 1, 2011. EMEDS is a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Groups to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards)
Medics try to resuscitate an Airman during an expeditionary Medical Support Exercise, Ramstein Air Base, Dec. 01, 2011. EMEDS was a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Group to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Aaron-Forrest Wainwright)
Medics try to resuscitate an Airman during an expeditionary Medical Support Exercise, Ramstein Air Base, Dec. 01, 2011. EMEDS was a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Group to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Aaron-Forrest Wainwright)
Medics try to resuscitate an Airman during an expeditionary Medical Support Exercise, Ramstein Air Base, Dec. 01, 2011. EMEDS was a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Group to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Aaron-Forrest Wainwright)
Staff Sgt. Geantel Ovalle-Escobar, 86th Medical Group dental technician, checks a patient for a chipped tooth during an expeditionary Medical Support Exercise, Ramstein Air Base, Dec. 01, 2011. EMEDS was a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Group to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Aaron-Forrest Wainwright)
Staff Sgt. Geantel Ovalle-Escobar 86th Medical Group dental technician, gives an x-ray to a patient of his mouth during an expeditionary Medical Support Exercise, Ramstein Air Base, Dec. 01, 2011. EMEDS was a week-long exercise for the 86th and 31st Medical Group to hone their skills in a mock-deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Aaron-Forrest Wainwright)
by Airman First Class Ciara M. Travis
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
12/6/2011 - RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Fifty-one members of the 86th Medical Group, 31st Medical Group from Aviano Air Base and U.S. Air Forces in Europe International Health Services participated in a 5-day long Expeditionary Medical Support exercise here, Nov. 28 through Dec. 2.
An EMEDS exercise, completed every two years, allows medical support personnel to practice providing medical care on short notice to an entire population-at-risk of up to 2,000..
"We can get an EMEDS anywhere in the world in 18 hours or less," said Capt. Jason Estes, Medical Readiness Flight commander. "Once on the ground, our medics can be mission ready for primary care, nursing care, laboratory services, dental care, x-ray, public health, bioenvironmental engineering, medical logistics and surgical operations in few than 72 hours. Because EMEDS is a modular capability, we can scale it up or down depending on the mission and the population at risk. That alone makes EMEDS an outstanding platform for global medical support."
The exercise consisted of formal training and realistic scenarios for the Airmen to test their knowledge with the medical field equipment.
"Although the equipment does the same job, the field versions of our medical tools are modified," said Capt. Ronsetta Hutchison, 86th MDS operating room nurse. "It's important to make yourself comfortable with medical equipment you don't use on a regular basis."
Using the equipment in the scenarios allowed for medical staff to work in a hands-on environment with face-to-face patient interaction.
"I had the exciting opportunity to act as a patient and process through the system," said Estes. "From the emergency room, to the operating room for surgery, to the ward for recovery, and on to be aeromedically evacuated to more definitive care. I got the chance to thoroughly understand the patient experience and process, it was awesome."
Since the EMEDS exercise was also heavily based on training, having the location here allowed for the Air Force to save the money it would normally cost to send the personnel back to the states.
"Having a mobile training cadre travel to Ramstein to conduct this training eliminated the requirement to send all of these personnel to other locations for the training, which saved the Air Force more than $153,000," said Estes.
But saving money isn't the main goal of the EMEDS exercise. The exercise is designed to provide a realistic taste of performing deployed care.
"I love field training like this," said Hutchison "To me, it truly feels like a deployed environment. That alone is priceless for members who haven't deployed yet. They are getting the training and will know exactly what to expect once down range."
