Page 1 - Ft. Irwin High Desert Warrior 2-5-16

Volume 12, Number 2 1VCMJTIFEJOUIFJOUFSFTUPGUIF/BUJPOBM5SBJOJOH$FOUFSBOE'PSU*SXJODPNNVOJUZtwww.irwin.army.mil February 5, 2016

MEDEVAC drill prepares crews for crises

Photo by Jason Miller, Public Affairs Office
Scott Wygal (center), a flight medic with the Fort Irwin Fire Department, gives commands to fellow firefighters as they prep an injured Soldier during a MEDEVAC exercise, Jan. 13.

By Jason Miller location and nature of the emergency was never transmit- Less than 20 minutes from the initial distress call, the first
ted by the crewmembers. The distress call from the aircraft pair of flight medics were on scene at the simulated crash
Public Affairs Office triggered emergency personnel from across the installation site. Sgt. Lukas Alvarez, flight medic with C Co., and Scott
to begin downed aircraft operating procedures. Wygal, flight medic with the Fort Irwin Fire Department,
United States Army Soldiers with C Company, 2916th began to triage the “injured” crewmembers immediately
Aviation Battalion, 916th Sustainment Brigade, initiated a “Our job is to find and plug those holes found in our stan- upon landing at the scene.
downed aircraft MEDEVAC exercise along with firefighters dard operating procedures after an exercise like this,” said Maj.
from the Fort Irwin Fire Department just outside the train- Matthew Partyka, commander of C Co. “We are doing this more After triage, Alvarez and Wygal found two Soldiers “de-
ing village of Razish, Jan. 13. often and my job is to try and make them as realistic as possible.” ceased” upon arrival, which left the remaining two in need of
immediate evacuation for further treatment due to their trau-
Fort Irwin Air Traffic Controllers received a simulated The MEDEVAC bell rang loudly at C Company’s flight matic injuries. Alvarez began treatment on an injured Soldier,
mayday transmission from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, operations center, giving the UH-60 Blackhawk stand-by
carrying four crewmembers, just seven minutes into their crew only 15 minutes to grab their gear, receive their mission See MEDEVAC, page 12
flight from the Fort Irwin main post helipad. The aircraft and be airborne en route to the incident.