Medical spreads their wings during Ready Eagle

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jonah Fronk
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
The 28th Medical Group participated in exercise Ready Eagle on Ellsworth Air Force Base, May 10-14. 

During the exercise, base medical professionals honed their skills as they reacted to a simulated large-scale emergency. Ready Eagle included a mock explosion scenario, during which volunteer actors portrayed civilian and military casualties with varying injuries.

“The purpose of the training is to ensure our Installation Medical All-Hazards Response teams are trained and ready to respond to any type of disaster,” said Capt. David Atwood, the 28th Medical Readiness Flight commander.

Medical personnel were tested on how they evaluated and treated injured individuals – each categorized by using different casualty levels. These casualty levels included: delayed, minimal, immediate and expectant. Each casualty level was sent to a different simulated location for proper treatment. Patients classified as delayed and minimal were taken directly to the 28th MDG building. Patients classified as immediate were placed in ambulances to simulate transporting them to a downtown hospital for more extensive treatment.

“During a disaster, our objective is to do the greatest good for the largest number of people,” said Atwood, “By prioritizing our work, we are able to increase our effectiveness and improve outcomes for our patients.”

Exercise Ready Eagle required members from 14 different disaster teams to work together in order to accomplish the mission at hand.

“Ready Eagle was a great success,” said Atwood, “Throughout the week, our Ellsworth team received high-quality training and improved our process.”