Med Group conducts weekend exercise

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sondra Escutia
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The 49th Medical Group and Security Forces Squadron participated in a large-scale weekend exercise Jan. 22 involving an active shooter.

In the exercise scenario, an agitated patient opened fire at the Mental Health Clinic and both units were tested in their ability to respond.

"The goal of the exercise was to test initial actions, communications and follow-on response for both the Medical Group and for Security Forces," said Capt. Marlon Muthuveeran, 49th MDG exercise evaluation team chief.

Captain Muthuveeran said six personnel simulated being shot during the exercise, which required mental health personnel to respond to the victims before medical teams arrived.

"Mental health personnel did a fantastic job performing self-aid and buddy care on each other after security forces eliminated the shooter," he said.

The exercise evaluator added that although this was the first exercise of this magnitude to be held internally in some time, the medics and defenders were successful in their response to the unanticipated crisis.

"I felt that the exercise turned out really well," said Captain Muthuveeran. "The Medical Control Center communicated well to the other medical disaster teams -- the triage team, casualty management team and the field treatment team -- who triaged and treated patients appropriately."

This exercise also marked the 49th MDG's second training day to be held on the weekend since the August 2010 decision to halt interruptions to physicians' schedules during the week.

Col. William Thomas, 49th MDG commander, said this initiative provided the group an opportunity to focus on training during the weekend training days and to focus on patients during the week.

"Our new direction is to consolidate these activities into a single, quarterly training day. This initiative can help to preserve up to 300 appointments of all types per month," said Colonel Thomas. "While this quarterly training day is uncompensated additional duty time for the entire Medical Group, not just the clinical teams, it helps us to ensure that every member is involved in taking up the charge for improved access to acute, routine and wellness appointments."

The end result of the weekend training days is more appointments available to Holloman beneficiaries and an overall better quality in training programs, he said.

As for this training, Captain Muthuveeran said he and the rest of the exercise evaluation team were pleased with the results but said as with everything else, there is always room for improvement.

"Our EET will continue to remind staff members of the sense of urgency needed during crisis situations and how we handle our shelter-in-place procedures," he said.

For more information, see the 49th MDG fact sheet or check out a recent Question and Answer session with the 49th MDG commander here.