Medics Learn Medevac Skills
2 min read
FORT DRUM, NY, UNITED STATES
Story by Sgt. Matthew Gunther
New York National Guard
FORT DRUM, N.Y. – New York National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Headquarters Battery of the 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery conducted training to respond to a mass casualty evacuation exercise with CH-47 Chinook helicopter aircrews from B Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation during the two units’ annual training here July 29th, 2019.
The artillery Soldiers are more accustomed to working with aviation assets for artillery raids, slingloading tubes to remote locations for fire missions, explained Capt. Michael Doyle, the Headquarters Battery Commander who coordinated the training.
“This was the first time our medics had conducted this training,” Doyle said, “as well as the first time for the Chinook crew members, who were familiar with the racks for litters but had never used them.”
Doyle coordinated with the two units in the midst of their annual training to identify a day to bring the two organizations together for the training.
Two CH-47 helicopters arrived for static training first, providing the medics and support personnel of the headquarters battery a chance to familiarize themselves with litter placement and procedures.
Litters were hand carried from a staging area onto the back of the aircraft, where they were placed in racks specifically made for litter patients.
Then it was time to go hot.
With engines running and rotor blades turning, medics and support Soldiers conducted casualty movements to the aircraft, careful to approach the rear ramp in a single file parallel to the aircraft in order to avoid the engine heat exhaust, which can approach 2,000 degrees.
Soldiers required sure footing in addition to proper approach to the aircraft. The rear rotor of the aircraft can also produce a rotor wash greater than 120 miles per hour.
After completing their litter training, the troops conducted a familiarization flight on the aircraft, returning them back to their original landing zone and a new appreciation for the capability of Army Aviation in supporting the artillery battalion.
