NAVY MARINE CORPS RESERVE CENTER SAN DIEGO -- “M-A-S-H”, a television show based around a mobile Army surgical hospital during the Korean War, has remained popular spanning decades. Corpsmen today have their own version of a mobile field hospital to operate in a combat environment.
More than 30 reserve corpsmen from across the country arrived at the Navy Marine Corps Reserve Center, near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Feb. 8 for training with a forward resuscitative surgical system or FRSS.
Corpsmen and surgeons with Company A and B, 4th Medical Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group practiced setting up the FRSS, enabling them to work with equipment they use while deployed.
The training also enabled the corpsmen to share information about lifesaving techniques.
The mobile hospital provides a place for casualties to receive medical treatment close to the battlefield, explained Navy Cmdr. Anita C. Bacher, the commanding officer of Co. A. They receive the casualties that the corpsmen on the battlefield have treated and take their medical treatment a step further by performing a variety of medical procedures including sealing up broken blood vessels and bullet wounds.
After the casualties receive treatment, the corpsmen prepare them for transport to hospitals where more extensive work can occur, explained Bacher.
“The benefit of having this is to increase the chance for a casualty to survive because the mobile hospital is not much more than a half-hour away as compared to a non-mobile hospital two hours away,” said Bacher. “Those 30 minutes have made a difference in saving lives.”
A FRSS consists of eight corpsmen with gear that the sailors can load onto trailers and humvees for quick mobility. Tents, generators and surgical equipment make up only a fraction of what is used in the mobile hospital.
February 8 through Feb. 10 the corpsmen learned how to set up and use the equipment that helps them stay mobile.
“It’s been a great opportunity to learn how to set up a tents, generators, and other equipment we’ll use in the field,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Kathy R. Canady, a corpsman with 4th Medical Bn. “Most of us work in the medical field when we are not active, so it provided us a chance to interact with and show us how to get the most out of the medical equipment we use.”
Each day, the corpsmen set up and broke down the tents and medical equipment they used to help them get acquainted with the equipment they might use. The training also helped the corpsmen set up the gear more quickly.
Marines and sailors with 4th Medical Battalion Headquarters and Service Company also taught the corpsmen with Co. A and B, how to drive humvees, use communication equipment, and operate a generator.
“It was a team effort for me and the other doctors in 1st Medical Battalion assigned to the project, shortly after the Gulf War, the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, (MCCDC) pushed the need for lighter surgical units,” said Navy Capt. Harold R. Bohman, Chief of Professional Services for 1st Medical Bn., Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, and one of the founders of the system. “As the battlefield gets more spread out, the difference in distance between the combat zone and the hospital can be 350 miles.”
With help from the Naval Health Research Center, the team reviewed patient conditions they might see in a combat environment and medical equipment needed to treat those conditions. The team took into consideration the size, weight and the functionality of the equipment for its use in field.
“Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom was the first time we could test the effectiveness of the system in a large combat operation,” said Bohman. “Out of around 3,000 Marines, sailors and Iraqi casualties we’ve had a 95 to 97 percent survival rate for the different FRSS’s in 1st Medical Bn., since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
As the corpsmen deploy this year to Africa or Iraq they can take this knowledge with them, explained Bacher. This training also helps the corpsmen when they support major training exercises.
This training means Marines and sailors can receive medical treatment, faster and more extensively when they receive injuries while deployed. The training helped the corpsmen practice the skills necessary to work as an expeditionary hospital for expeditionary Marines.