48th MDG trains to maintain readiness

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Connor Estes
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The 48th Medical Group took part in a week-long mobile Expeditionary Medical Support [EMEDS] training at RAF Feltwell Dec. 5 - 9 to maintain and test readiness capabilities.

Sixty seven members were trained by 11 EMEDS instructors on how to care for patients under emergency scenarios and to set up a hospital providing services such as intensive care, pharmacy, operation room and dental care.

EMEDS comprises of a variety of flexible, rapid-response medical teams that can be used in many different types of operations such as humanitarian relief, wartime contingencies and disaster response. Their mission is to deploy and prepare aeromedical evacuation of casualties.

"It's important to have our people get this training because we have real world EMEDS deployment capabilities here at Lakenheath," said 1st Lt. Jerry Thompson, 48th MDG medical readiness flight commander. "So if we get a tasking saying 'deploy your EMEDS,' then we would send out our equipment, supplies and personnel to go in theater and set up as a mobile hospital."

Instead of sending personnel to the U.S. for the training, instructors from Alpena Air National Guard Base, Michigan came here to help. The instructors also trained medical personnel at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

"They are essentially overseeing, teaching and helping us," said Col. Pete Kovats, 48th MDG EMEDS commander for the exercise. "It's important our medical personnel understand what it means to go to a bare base, put up a hospital, be functional and care for patients. It's a competency that you really need to exercise and practice, not just read about."

For some who had never been through the exercise before, it was a chance to help relieve the anxiety of what to expect during a deployment.

"It's just a great experience of learning my role and the roles of my teammates on how to take care of patients in a wartime or humanitarian situation," said Senior Airman Errington Neysmith, 48th MDG aerospace medical service journeyman. "Now I know what to expect in a deployment if called upon and I'll feel competent doing my job there."

For others involved in the training it was a chance to network with people from different locations.

"This training is great because we get to work with people from different bases and the Air Guard," said Capt. Adam Christopher, 48th MDG critical care nurse. "It builds teamwork, cohesion and helps us see how this whole process works from start to finish."