Naval Medical Center Portsmouth has participated in communication and medical simulation training aboard USS Bataan as part of the large-scale exercise Bold Alligator.The U.S. Navy said Friday the exercise sought to prepare more than 70 NMCP medical personnel to help treat mass casualties in the event that USS Bataan would be deployed to a war zone.
Cmdr. Michael Spooner, director of the healthcare simulation and bio-skills training center at NMCP, said the full-scale mass casualty simulation will work to assess the casualty receiving treatment ship crew that will be assigned to Bataan during a large-scale combat event.
He added that the exercise featured simulation mannequins and a trainer for leg tourniquet application, among other equipment, as well as “actors” who served to simulate casualties or injured patients.
“What makes the drill successful isn’t necessarily the medical equipment or the resources, but the level of communication,” said Cmdr. William Wiegmann, a critical care nurse assigned to CRTS.
“As information traveled throughout the team, it made a huge impact, and so did the simulation.”
The team assessed the needed treatment based on severity of injury, with patients wearing “cut suits” moving from the primary to the third triage depending on their treatment progress, the Navy said.
