PAF, US Air Force hold 'austere' medical care drills

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 17, 2023): PAF, US Air Force hold 'austere' medical care drills (By Priam Nepomuceno)

AUSTERE MEDICAL CARE. Participants prepare dummy patients for the mass casualty evacuation demonstration at Clark Air Base in Mabalacat, Pampanga in this undated photo, as part of the Pacific Airlift Rally 2023. The activity is aimed at ensuring that medical personnel of participating Air Force troops have the capability to operate in battlefield conditions. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Air Force)

MANILA – To ensure that their medical personnel have the capability to operate in battlefield conditions, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and United States Air Force (USAF) conducted hands-on "austere/expeditionary medical care with mass casualty simulation exercise" at Clark Air Base in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

This subject matter expert exchange (SMEE) took place from Aug. 15 and 16, PAF spokesperson Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said in a statement late Wednesday.

"The SMEE, which was held from August 15-16, 2023, (also) brought together medical experts from the PAF, USAF, Indonesian Air Force, and Royal Malaysian Air Force. This activity is part of the PAR-23 (Pacific Airlift Rally 2023) which aims to identify optimal approaches for establishing a collaborative operational framework to address medical challenges in contested environments with limited resources," she added.

Austere medicine refers to the practice of pre-hospital medical care, or in settings characterized by limited resources and constrained environment.

Castillo also said a "mass casualty simulation exercise" was carried out to assess the participants' ability to triage and stabilize patients in a simulated mass casualty scenario, using the skills and knowledge they learned during the academic sessions.

"The SMEE and mass casualty simulation exercise cultivated a collaborative environment where participants were able to share knowledge and expertise in austere and expeditionary medical care. This also prepared them to better respond to future medical threats in austere environments where humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions are performed," she added.

The PAR-23 runs from Aug. 14 to 18 with a total of 779 participants coming from the PAF, Philippine Army, as well as their counterparts from United States, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste.

The participants would take part in SMEE, flying training and table top exercises.

'Personnel airdrop'

As this developed, Castillo said over 100 jumpers from the PAF, Philippine Army and USAF performed personnel airdrop over Barangay Liwayway, Sta Rosa, Nueva Ecija on Aug. 16.

"The jumpers along with several jump masters and other air crew from PAF, USAF, Royal Malaysian Air Force, Indonesian Air Force, and Japan Air Self-Defense Force boarded the two USAF C-130 medium lift aircraft and one C-130 of RMAF at Clark Air Base, Mabalacat City, Pampanga," she added.

With an altitude of 6,000 feet, the jumpers exited the aircraft to perform military free fall, while the static fall paratroopers jumped from 1,500 feet.

"The personnel airdrop exercise exhibited interoperability among the participating air forces and enhanced troop capabilities in precise and accurate paradrop which can be used during various missions such as troop infiltration, and insertion of para-rescuers during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations," Castillo said.

Mass casualty evacuation exercise

In another related development, Castillo said PAF and USAF aeromedical evacuation teams, in collaboration with medical counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia, took part in the flying training exercise (FTX) on mass casualty evacuation at Clark Air Base, Mabalacat City, Pampanga on Thursday.

"The exercise is one of the activities of the Pacific Airlift Rally, which aims to enhance the participating countries' ability to conduct large-scale patient movement and evacuation. Participants executed simulation of advanced patient movement and evacuation by loading role player and dummy patients onto a USAF C-130 aircraft. The said medevac cargo aircraft then flew from Clark to BGNEAB(Brig. Gen. Benito N. Ebuen Air Base) in Mactan, Cebu to simulate in-flight medical care and transfer from one medical facility to another," she added.

Before this exercise, Castillo said a two-day subject matter expert exchange (SMEE) was conducted to foster collaborative medical capabilities, particularly for the treatment of victims affected by natural disasters.

The discussions covered a range of topics, including triage procedures, en route care protocols, and validation processes for Patient Movement Requests, among others.

As this developed, a table top exercise (TTX) on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) mission planning was also held at Park Inn Hotel, Clark, Pampanga.

This particular TTX aims to train officers of the different participating Air Forces on planning airlift and HADR operations in a combined/coalition environment.

Mission planners from the Philippines, US, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore, Timor Leste, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste participated in the exercise.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1207996