Macedonians perform encore at MEDCEUR

  • Published
  • By Air Force Staff Sgt. Tammie Moore
  • Medical Training Exercise in Central and Eastern Europe Public Affairs
DIVULJE TRAINING BASE, Croatia --  (Editor's note: This article is the second in a series covering training during the Medical Training Exercise in Central and Eastern Europe 2008.)

The Macedonian military sent a team of Combat Life Saver (CLS) instructors for a repeat performance at the 2008 Medical Training Exercise in Central and Eastern Europe (MEDCEUR), teaching students how to provide medical care as first responders.

This is the second consecutive year the Macedonians have led the CLS training at the annual exercise.

Fifteen nations are participating in MEDCEUR from May 2 through 14. The exercise focuses on mass-casualty training scenarios and humanitarian aid in response to crises situations. MEDCEUR is a Joint Chiefs of Staff regional/multilateral exercise sponsored by U.S. European Command. Croatia is hosting the 2008 exercise which has drawn about 400 multi-nationals in support of the Partnership for Peace initiative.

The CLS course is one of eleven courses offered during MEDCEUR. This course focuses on nine subjects ranging from anatomy and triage to transportation and immobilization.

The CLS course is one of the most popular ones offered during MEDCEUR, said U.S. Air National Guard (ANG) Lt. Col. George Gosting, the 86th Expeditionary Combat Readiness Group planner and the International Health Specialist Liaison to the ANG Surgeons Office. There were more seats demanded for this class than were available. People wanted to sign up for it because of its success last year, he said.

The CLS instructors teach skills not necessarily required in a hospital but that can be critical in the field to keep a patient alive until they arrive at a hospital, said Dana Poptrandova, Macedonia senior medical nurse and MEDCEUR CLS instructor. This is done through classroom briefings followed by students' hands-on practice of the concepts they've learned.

"This course is not designed for medical personnel," Poptrandova said. "It teaches first responders life-saving skills to be used in the field."

The practical-application section of the classroom takes place outside. This is so the students are placed in a more realistic situation where they would have to use these skills, Poptrandova said.

The MEDCEUR students will be tested twice on the knowledge they learned in this class, before they leave Croatia. The three-day class has a final exam which will be followed by a large-scale mass-casualty exercise.

All MEDCEUR students must show they can perform the skills they learned in their classes when they are called to respond after a simulated earthquake. Students will have to assess and stabilize more than a hundred patients once on scene.

The students will have first contact with these patients, Poptrandova said. Doctors are normally not the first one to see a patient that is another reason CLS skills are important.

"The practice will be interesting," said Ukrainian Army Lt. Andriy Tkachenko, who has a medical background but has not studied battlefield medical treatment. The training he receives here will be continued when he returns home, when he will learn about hospital deployment.

Fellow classmate, Armenian Cadet Samvel Sargsyan from the Military Medicine Faculty of the Armenian Medical University said, "This training is very practical. It is good to learn from a book and then (apply the action) in real life."

He also said the mass-casualty exercise will be a good experience since there was an earthquake in his region 20 years ago. After this exercise he believes they will know what to do if it happens again. "This is good practice and good learning," he said.