Medical Training Update

Sean is officially trained as a Critical Care Air Transport Team member - the medical teams who transport critically injured military from the war zone hospitals back to the US via air. As part of their training, they first had to spend some time in an altitude chamber to learn how to deal with issues that arise with the loss of cabin pressure. Then everyone was organized into teams which included 1 Registered Nurse, 1 Respiratory Therapist, and 1 Doctor. Each team member was required to learn everything about each piece of specialized medical equipment, as well as where to quickly locate all the necessary medical supplies in the huge transport packs. At the end of the 2 week course, they did simulations with "dummy patients" in a mock C-130 where they had to handle numerous stressful situations. All of this was done wearing earplugs because of the lound sound of engines blaring over speakers, making the simulation all the more real. Just hearing about it stressed me out!

Before CCATT training, Sean spent a week in an Emergency War Surgery Course. This course gives medical personnel about to be deployed an idea of the sorts of injuries they can expect to face in the military hospital setting of a war zone. They will see all sorts of difficult sights over there, and it is important that they be prepared for it as much as is possible. This course also allowed them to learn some procedures they might be called upon to use in the event of an emergency. Sean found it all to be very interesting and helpful, but cannot discuss some things in a public setting like our blog. Needless to say, it was a very beneficial learning opportunity.

Sean has 2 more training sessions coming up. Part of this week is MURT (Medical Unit Readiness Training), which is designed to teach medical personnel how to survive the severe conditions of the forward operating environment (war front). Next week is 2 days of TNCC (Trauma Nurse Core Course) where they learn life saving techniques and protocols designed to specifically cater to the type of emergencies that are unique to trauma. This is a course that trauma nurses take on a semi-regular basis to renew their skills.

After these 2 sessions, Sean is back to his night schedule in the ICU, and life will get back to normal for a while.