Joint Task Force-East

212^th CSH trains with Romanian medical personnel

June 10, 2008

Story by Sgt. Aimee Millham
JTF-E Public Affairs Office

MK AIRFIELD ADMINISTRATION CENTER, Romania – Romanian and American military medical professionals learned this week that synchronization is the key to saving lives on the battlefield.

“We work together in war; we have to be on the same page,” said Capt. April Lynch, officer in charge of the 212th Combat Support Hospital, referring to the two coalition partners.

To achieve that goal the 212th hosted nine Romanian medical professionals during a weeklong training event that started June 2 at Mihail-Kogalniceanu Airfield Administration Center.

The training included a mass casualty exercise; trauma and deployment training; air and ground evacuation procedures; preventive medicine; triage management; burn care; and treatment of head injuries. The CSH brought in an obstetrician-gynecologist and a general surgeon from Landshtuhl Regional Medical Center to teach some of the classes.

The trainees were eager for more.

“I wish it had been even longer,” said Romanian Capt. Tudor Vasilescu, adding that he found U.S. medical procedures to be similar to those he already knew. Vasilescu, who deployed to Kosovo in 2002, Afghanistan in 2004 and Iraq in 2006, is a battalion surgeon in the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Romanian Land Forces.

The climax of the training came midweek during the MASCAL exercise, which drew participation from aviation units, fire fighters and military police assets on post. It allowed participants to see what it is like to conduct a medical evacuation with all the teams that would be involved in a real-life event. Besides adding a sense of realism, this gave trainees the opportunity to experience the time pressure involved in a MASCAL incident.

“Time is vital. If you lose time, you lose lives,” said Lt. Col. Lucia Fitarau, a Romanian Land Forces 2nd Infantry Brigade physician and one of the nine Romanian participants. Fitarau, who deployed to Kosovo in 2002 and Iraq in 2004, is scheduled to deploy again in December with Romanian Land Forces 2nd Infantry Brigade.

While the 212th CSH hosted the event, they were also there to learn from their Romanian counterparts.

“We got to learn their capabilities, skill sets and skill levels,” said Capt. Edward Comer, a nurse with the 212th CSH.

Given the limited assets Romanian Land Forces have for training, events like these show American units what they need to offer their coalition partners during training and war, Comer said.

Lynch also walked away with her fair share of lessons. This is the first time she has served as OIC for such an event, most importantly the MASCAL event, and she looks forward to more.

“I learned how to think big, and if it’s up to me, it’ll happen again,” she said.

For more information regarding Joint Task Force East, please contact the Public Affairs Office, 0241 608 079 and 0730 630 079, cpicjtf-east@eur.army.mil

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