Disaster training keeps Robins Air Force Base medical group ‘ready to go’
For four days, the 47 members of the Georgia Air National Guard 116th Medical Group, Detachment 1 were battling radiation, casualties and injuries. All simulated, of course.
It was a normal training mission for the detachment, which was formed this year but has been a part of the Air National Guard for nearly 10 years.
The medical group from Robins Air Force Base was joined by eight additional joint-force units from the Region IV Homeland Response Force at Fort McClellan and Pelham Range in Anniston, Alabama.
“We do [the exercises] fairly regularly, so we’re able to respond 24/7, 365 days a year. Our job is to always be ready to go,” said Col. Chris Krueger, commander of the detachment.
Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, bio-engineers, administrative assistants and physicians assistants make up the detachment.
During the exercise in Alabama, the mission is to mobilize the troops in order to provide medical care on site, Krueger said.
Factors such as radiation, mudslides, building collapses and other natural or man-made disasters play a part in how the team responds.
“We are mobilized and deployed to the area to help with casualties and mitigate suffering,” Krueger said.
Sometimes in a large disaster situation, local hospitals and emergency management officials are overrun with patients. This is where the detachment comes into play, said Sr. Master Sgt. Roger Parsons, 116th Air Control Wing Public Affairs at Robins.
“We provide full-scale medical triages as well as search and rescue,” he said.
This includes setting up three to four different tents to treat injuries and to use as a home base during the recovery efforts.
The exercise, held April 17-20, was a radiation emergency. Responders had to use masks, get radiological readings and decontaminate items. Actors and dummies were used to portray victims of the crisis.
The unit is one of the top-rated medical groups in the country. It is used as best practices for other units around the military, Parsons said.
The medical group provides support for Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. If there is a disaster outside of their area, they can be deployed there as well.
Because members of the Air National Guard are members of the local community and have jobs outside of the reserve unit, Krueger said that responding to disasters hits home.
“We’re Georgia citizens. We use our skills to help out our neighbors,” he said.
This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Disaster training keeps Robins Air Force Base medical group ‘ready to go’."