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Humanitarian Relief Hospital Prepares for Deployment to Iraq
Humanitarian Relief Hospital Prepares for Deployment to Iraq
Medical personnel from the 14th Combat Support Hospital assess a Soldier’s injuries during a field training exercise at Ft. Benning, Ga.
The field hospital jumped into action with the sudden arrival of seventeen wounded warriors. Most fell victim to improvised explosive device (IED) blasts. The medical staff in the triage ward assessed the injured, inserted intravenous lines and began treatment.
Those with life-threatening injuries were quickly ushered down the facility’s “critical corridor” for immediate treatment. The corridor is the hospital’s central nervous system, connecting triage to the operating room and intensive care facilities.
This controlled chaos occurs daily in Southwest Asia. Fortunately for the aforementioned Soldiers, they were acting for the doctors and nurses engaged in a finely-tuned exercise at Fort Benning, Ga.
The mass casualty exercise capped off a week of pre-deployment training by the 14th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) at the end of September. The purpose was to test the medical readiness of the hospital staff, as well as their ability to electronically document patient care under pressure.
The 14th CSH has a history of forging new ground using computer systems to digitally capture medical information. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall east of New Orleans, La., and ravaged the Gulf Coast. In its wake, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the aftermath as "probably the worst catastrophe, or set of catastrophes," in U.S. history. Lives were changed and the landscape of a major city was altered.
In response to the urgent need for basic services, the 14th CSH deployed and administered medical care to the citizens of the devastated area. The relief response included a tactical system comprised of state-of-the-art hardware and joint software fielded by the Army’s Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) program. It was the first time the system was used to document patient care during a humanitarian mission.
Just months after aiding Joint Task Force Katrina relief efforts, the field hospital deployed to Afghanistan. Once again, the men and women of the 14th CSH blazed a new trail using the MC4 system, but this time covering a much larger area of responsibility.
Medical personnel from the 14th Combat Support Hospital receive hands-on experience using computer systems to document patient care during a training exercise at Fort Benning, Ga.
Unit commanders used the knowledge and experience acquired from the relief efforts in New Orleans to become the first facility to electronically document patient data in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. By doing so, this helped to reduce the dependency of charting medical information onto paper forms. It also set a new expectation for medical information management in Afghanistan.
SGT James Staley supports the patient administration section of the 14th CSH and first used the MC4 system during its initial roll-out in Afghanistan. During his introduction to the system, he remained skeptical. However, his opinion changed after a couple of weeks when he became proficient with the systems, changing his preference to digital documentation instead of paper copy.
“At first, I thought using the computer would take more time to do my job since I can’t type as fast as I can write,” SGT Staley said. “I found that using the MC4 system is much better than paper records. Once the data is entered into the system, all of the essential functions of the facility can see and review the data. Additionally, labs and blood work can be ordered and easily tracked within the system.”
Exercise Heightened Readiness for Disasters in 2008
In 2008, the 14th CSH once again stood ready to support U.S. Army North Command’s responsibility for contingency operations in North America. In the unfortunate instance a disaster occurred, the unit was trained, equipped and ready to deploy.
“The staff is prepared to mobilize the hospital to any location we’re needed within 24 hours,” said COL Fulbright, commander of the 14th CSH. “As an example, if the severity of Hurricane Ike had been greater when it made landfall in Texas, we would have been called into action.”
The exercise offered new and repeat MC4 users a chance to catch up with technology. Lab personnel 2LT Cathy House and SPC James Cain, Jr., gained their first exposure to the tactical medical recording system at Fort Benning.
“With this training experience under my belt, I will not be going overseas completely blind,” 2LT House said. “We strive for quality patient care in every aspect of medical care and this experience will definitely help. I would recommend this training to anyone preparing to deploy. I would also like to see it implemented during additional field training exercises.”
SPC Cain had some experience from his stateside job that he learned to apply during the MC4 training.
“I used CSHS while I was stationed at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii and I like this application a lot,” SPC Cain said. “It takes a short time to learn the nuances of the software and to remember how to perform particular steps without looking at tip sheets. But once the pieces fall into place, there are no problems.”
While medical personnel practiced on the new applications, the training also afforded the network and communications gurus to try new business practices behind the scenes. During previous
CONUS-based contingency operations, onsite communications occurred via local area networks and radio transmission.
The 14th Combat Support Hospital became the first facility use communications satellites during a stateside training exercise, recently held at Fort Benning, Ga.
CPT Eric Petersen, signal officer (S6) for the 14th CSH, exploited the training as an opportunity to be the first to incorporate communication satellites into the mix. While satellites are used in the desert to transmit medical records, they had never been used during a CONUS-based scenario exercise.
The unit reached success, disconnecting the reliance on land lines and becoming the first to place medical logistics orders via a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) stateside.
“One of my major objectives this week was to use of the VSAT and interface with the medical logistics server at Martin Army Community Hospital located here at Fort Benning,” CPT Petersen said. “Now that we know what is involved, the 14th CSH will integrate the VSATs into future training exercises, as well as any disaster relief effort we’re called on to support.”
More Training Ahead
While integrating MC4 into the medical readiness exercises provides the 14th CSH valuable hands-on experience with the equipment, it will not be their last test run with MC4. In addition to contingency support, the 14th CSH began preparation for a spring deployment to Southwest Asia. This time, the hospital is scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Hospital personnel, including the 690th Medical Company and 240th Forward Surgical Team, attended the week-long training session. They practiced treating injuries they might see downrange and learned processes to digitally charting medical information via MC4. For some, it’s been two or three years since they have used MC4, and for others, it is their first time.
“Our main focus is to make sure the staff receives as much training as possible before the deployment,” CPT Peterson said. “This helps to make everyone more valuable to the hospital and avoid on-the-job training. The staff will attend additional, in-depth training to become proficient with the MC4 systems. It is definitely worthwhile to have the clinical personnel put their hands on the equipment. It helps them know how to use the systems and understand their responsibilities to electronically capture patient data within their sections.”
Studies have shown that people begin to forget information they learn while sitting through a class or training session the moment they walk out of the room. COL Elizabeth Johnson, chief nurse and deputy commander for clinical services of the 14th CSH, plans to combat this loss of knowledge by adopting the mantra “repetitio est mater studiorum,” which, in Latin, means “repetition is the mother of learning.”
Personnel assigned to the 14th Combat Support Hospital will have multiple opportunities to practice and train on MC4 system prior to the upcoming deployment in spring 2009
COL Johnson hopes the unit will gain proficiently in documenting patient information electronically by offering multiple training opportunities.
“I think it is important for the staff to be exposed to the system as much as possible before our deployment,” COL Johnson said. “This way, the staff is not trying to cram in various training requirements in a two-month window before we leave.”
Understanding the stresses Soldiers face when preparing to deploy, and the additional training required of them, COL Johnson remains focused on their well-being, as much as their readiness.
“As we get closer to the departure date, individuals will also have the stress of packing up their household goods and saying goodbye to mom and dad and other family members,” COL Johnson said. “We want to mitigate some of the stress by avoiding the burden of fulfilling last minute training requirements as much as possible.”
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