Doctors, nurses, medics train with 212th CSH

More than 100 doctors, nurses and medics from the 212th Combat Support Hospital muddied their boots during CSH Days, a recent training event at Miesau Army Depot.

During the Jan. 10 activity, Soldiers covered 11 miles through muddy terrain during light rain and temperatures in the mid-30s. There were 16 teams of seven Soldiers who competed to see who could accomplish more than a dozen medical and combat-related tasks correctly and in the shortest time possible.

One of the most challenging tasks was rescuing a 200-pound simulated casualty.

“We were low crawling through these tunnels using our headlamps, and we had to load the patient on the Sked (stretcher) and use a pulley system to extract them from the bottom of the pipe and provide any care that we could provide the patient while in the tunnel,” said 1st Lt. Matthew Lewis, a nurse from 212th CSH.

Up to 30 or 40 medical officers from the 212th CSH work at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a program that keeps their medical skills sharp and supports local patient care needs. But, during three days each month, they train with their unit.

“The purpose of the CSH Days is to get the officers and the nurses and the docs paired up with their personnel they’re going to work with downrange, so it builds camaraderie between the different ranks and all the personnel that work together,” said Master Sgt. Richard Krueger, a 212th CSH assistant trainer. “This is a culmination of all the training that they’ve been doing.”

The competition brought team members from LRMC, including a dietician, pharmacist and a respiratory therapist.

“Working in the hospital we get to sharpen our skills medical wise,” said 1st Lt. Donald McGhee, a 212th CSH nurse. “We can take what we learn at the hospital with diseases and injuries and care for those injuries and take them to the Soldiers who don’t always get to work in the hospital and just do training for them as well.”

“Overall, it makes us better officers and Soldiers because we get a broader training — the whole spectrum, field and hospital,” McGhee said.