by Dave Spencer

The plan for April’s practical training was a night area familiarization towards Hackett Canyon with the Unit quads, Jeeps, and POV vehicles…with a surprise.

Unbeknownst to all but two of the Team members, the current Commander was going to be found injured along the route. The idea was that the Team would come upon an unoccupied off-road vehicle, engine running, with the driver’s door open. Upon further investigation, the “victim” would be found with severe injuries from a trip and fall into boulders.

To ramp up the realism, Ms. Barbara, Carson City CERT moulage technician, got to spend some time improving the looks of the Commander’s…let’s just say “ample” forehead, while also adding some cuts and scrapes to his face and a nasty contusion to the left shin. Although the victim was only responsive to painful stimuli, there are just some things one cannot fake, so the victim provided some vital sign inputs as the on scene medical team performed the primary survey and reassessments. Hint: the blood was a feint, the real issue was determined by the head to toe survey and the vitals. Taking the realism one step further, Care Flight was called in by acting “Dispatch”, Training Coordinator Pete.

Every member played a vital roll and did a great job. Shout outs to Debra and Harry for on scene medical (nice job identifying the head wound’s Method Of Injury (MOI) Debra, Harry for noting the pistol magazine in the sock), Mike R. for taking on scene lead and clearing/securing the victim’s firearm, Mike B. for handling the emergency contact call to ensure there was no one with the victim (such as a child who might be hiding), Mitch for taking Air Ops and then letting the Team slide the victim, backboard and all, onto his Jeep’s leather seats.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, and we have lots.

Many thanks again to Ms. Barbara; Bill L. Care Flight Safety Coordinator; Care Flight 2 crew, Heather, Vanessa, and Joel; Training Coordinator Pete for all his time and effort; and lastly to the Team for letting us put them through their paces unannounced!