FORT POLK, La. –
Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital hosted a skills fair June 27 for nurses and medics at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, Louisiana.
Lt. Col. Dwight Berry, assistant director for nursing said the skills fair allows nurses and medics to practice critical war time skills.
“The focus for this event was to train on certain skills that our nurses and medics won’t typically see in a garrison environment,” he said. “This type of training is very critical to operational readiness.”
Berry said the training focused on individual critical task list requirements based on military occupational specialty and areas of concentration.
“Our hospital education and staff development team created three lanes for participants to focus on; orthopedic tasks, airway and lung integrity, and arterial blood gases and line management,” he said. “HESD is a true JRTC education force multiplier as we are able to reach out and train all installation medical providers, not just BJACH staff.”
Berry said during the fair, students applied tourniquets to control extremity bleeding, initiated an intraosseous device, opened an airway, performed needle chest decompression, inserted nasogastric tubes, managed the chest drainage system, monitored blood products, monitored mechanical ventilators and operated a medical ventilation system.
Spc. Anthony Moody Jr., combat medic specialist, 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment said he learned intraosseous (IO) injection techniques during the fair.
“I’m here learning to save lives,” he said. “These techniques are invaluable in the management and resuscitation of patients on the battlefield.”
Spc. Devin Seibel, combat medic specialist, C Company, 710 Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division said just arrived to Fort Polk and recently changed his MOS from petroleum supply specialist.
“I just graduated from advanced individual training two weeks ago,” he said. “I enjoyed the training, it was a great refresher from the school house. I had never done an IO with a hand held device before, so that was really cool.”
Sgt. Cole Loveberry, C Co, 710th BSB, 3rd BCT, 10th MTN DIV, has been a medic for five years.
“I recently arrived to Fort Polk from 5th Ranger Training Battalion, (where) it’s the mountain phase of Ranger school,” he said. “I took care of a lot of skin infections and a variety of minor training injuries. This training is a great opportunity to refresh our knowledge and get hands on with simulators and training aides.”
Spc. Devin Capwell, combat medic specialist, C Co, 710th BSB, 3rd BCT, 10th MTN DIV, said all three lanes were valuable to the attendees.
“It’s always helpful to train because our skills are perishable,” he said. “Training events like this are important for combat and overall readiness.
There is always a possibility that we’ll get called up to deploy or support a mission somewhere around the world. We need to be prepared to support our fellow Soldiers.”
Maj. Carmen Salcedo, commander, C Co, 710th BSB, 3rd BCT, 10th MTN DIV, sent her medics to the skills fair for a refresher and to complete ICTL requirements.
“This training contributes to our unit’s overall readiness,” she said. “My medics provide advanced medical support to 3/10th in a tactical environment. They are counting on us to save lives. Skills fairs offered at BJACH give my Soldiers the opportunity to get hands on training, improve their abilities and build their confidence.”