MEDCEUR classes set stage for success

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David Dobrydney
  • MEDCEUR10 Public Affairs
DANILOVGRAD ARMY BASE, Montenegro --  Tents, medical supplies and field hospitals stand ready for the moulaged patients of live mass casualty exercise scenarios at MEDCEUR '10, Medical Training Exercise in Central & Eastern Europe 2010. The medical personnel who will spring into action during these scenarios are 400 yards away in classrooms learning and discussing priority, organization and administration of care for the casualties of disasters or crisis events.

"It's more than just putting a bandage on a person and sending them to the hospital," said Capt. Zaza Komladze of the Georgian army during a presentation to an audience of U.S., Bosnian, Serbian and Azerbaijani servicemembers on the roles and responsibilities of a medic on the battlefield. "You must be able to justify your actions; what is unacceptable in a civilian environment may be right on the battlefield."

The three days of classroom instruction includes hands-on training with mannequins and stretchers. Students act as casualties with neck injuries and secure each other to stretchers without moving their necks. Mannequins provide a place for students to safely practice insertion of IV lines and chest tubes. Teachers move about describing the equipment and how it works, while servicemembers who understand English translate for their comrades.

The ten nations participating in MEDCEUR '10 are Montenegro, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova, Ukraine and the United States. To help solve the problem of the language barriers between the servicemembers of those nations, Staff Sgt. Vince Remo, a U.S. medical technician from the 48th Medical Operations Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England, brought a medical translation pamphlet, normally for victims who cannot speak, which uses symbols instead of words.

"Visual aids help a lot in this sort of training," said Sergeant Remo. "[The students] actually understood me better when I used it."

With their new understanding, the representatives of the partner nations are ready for the live portion of the exercise.

"The best thing is working together with Montenegrins, Serbians, Georgians, and the others here," said Marko Saric, a physician's assistant from Bosnia and Herzegovina. "We can combine our knowledge about specific things and pass on our experiences to make something better."

For more information, go to www.usafe.af.mil/medceur.asp and www.odbrana.gov.me.