MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- As preparation for upcoming individual deployments, more than 100 Navy corpsman, doctors and nurses participated in a rigorous two-week course directed by the Naval Expeditionary Medicine Training Institute on Camp Pendleton, July 9.
The course consisted of sailors undergoing training such as tactical combat casualty care, fleet hospital and Expeditionary Medical Facility pre-deployment training. The course also taught medical sustainment and combat survival techniques to the individual augments. While deploying on individual augments, each sailor will serve units in either EMF Kuwait or Djbouti, Africa.
“This is a great way for our students to get scenario training,” said Navy Capt. Mitchell Dukovich, officer in charge, NEMTI. “This is the last stop before going on deployment and it is our job to work out any kinks they might have, after the students receive this training they will be able to identify and quickly assess situations they might face while on deployment.”
All medical personnel assigned to EMF Kuwait or EMF Djoubti are eligible to attend the institution. Students attending the school vary from Navy physicians, nurses, hospital corpsmen, non-medical Navy support personnel and Marines.
“I feel really fortunate to be a part of the school,” said Deborah Roy, nurse. “This is a terrific way to get everyone together and practice as a team.”
Camp Pendleton is the only base that provides a location for NEMTI training to be conducted.
“Camp Pendleton’s environment is one found nowhere else in the military, and this is something we must take advantage of,” said Dukovich.
It is the responsibility of all instructors at NEMTI to identify and provide assistants to any students who may be having difficulties with the curriculum. This way when they are sent off into theatre the medical personnel are ready to handle a variety of situations with ease.
“Our instructors teach at a high level of expertise and have had a tremendous amount of deployment experience,” said Dukovich. “They are a tremendous asset to this institution and are crucial to its success.”
For more information about NEMTI, log onto www.med.navy.mil or contact the NEMTI Training Department at 1-888-873-1841.