Medics square off at Fort Bragg for chance to advance to Army wide competition
Oct. 08--One soldier has a chest wound, his uniform soaked in blood.
Another's hand is mangled. A third has blood dripping from her head and at one point, wanders into the woods in search of a dinosaur.
But in the chaotic scene that only moments before included the sounds of machine guns and cannon fire, two medics calmly worked together to maintain order and save lives.
At least, they would have, had the situation been real.
Some of the best medics in the Army are squaring off this week on Fort Bragg to determine who will represent their units in an Army-wide competition.
The 82nd Airborne Division and Northern Regional Medical Command are each hosting "best medic" competitions. Winners will be decided later this week.
Ten paratroopers -- working in teams of two -- are competing to see who is the best medic in the All American's event.
Across Fort Bragg, nine soldiers from Womack Army Medical Center and several other military treatment centers across the Northern Regional Medical Command area of operations, are competing individually. The top two are set to be paired together for the Army-wide competition next month.
That event, the Command Sgt. Maj. Jack L. Clark Jr. Army Best Medic Competition, will pit 68 soldiers against each other over a 72-hour competition at Camp Bullis, Texas. The winners will earn the title of the Army's Best Medic Team.
Each of the Fort Bragg events included physical challenges, tests of Army skills, mock disaster scenarios and written tests.
At the Taylor-Sandri Medical Training Center on Gruber Road, paratroopers from the 1st and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams made their way through a course littered with obstacles and mock casualties.
Pvt. Dylan Wilson of the 307th Brigade Engineer Battalion and Spc. Joshua Schlyer of the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment have known each other for a few days. But in the middle of three soldiers with varying fake founds, they work together seamlessly, communicating with each other and the patients while waiting for an ambulance.
The goal, officials said, is to prove the medics can work under extreme pressure and tiring conditions.
Mock artillery and gunfire punctuated the training lanes, adding a layer of realism to the fake blood and rubber wounds.
"I thought it went pretty well," Schlyer said after the injured soldiers were successfully loaded into an ambulance.
"But there's always room for improvement," added Wilson.
The two soldiers said they know what their jobs are on the battlefield and are comfortable working together.
"Every medic here is fully competent," Schlyer said.
The 82nd competition is stiff, Wilson said, which is sure to give a leg up to whichever team makes it on to the Army competition.
"Whoever the team is, they'll go 110 percent, full force," he said.
Across Fort Bragg at the Medical Simulation Training Center, Spc. James Ersando has no partner as he makes his way through the Northern Regional Medical Center course.
Crawling under razor wire and firing back against mock enemies, it's Ersando's first time competing for the title of best medic. But like the other competitors, he has earned the coveted Expert Field Medical Badge.
At one point, Ersando -- who works at Womack Army Medical Center -- bounces between three patients, treating various ailments, including an amputation, shock and a head injury.
"It's pretty much my job," Ersando said after the test. "I wasn't prepared in advance. It was just reacting to what you see."
Ersando said the hardest aspect of the training was how physical it was.
He said the competitors had completed a physical training test, an obstacle course and a six-mile march before undergoing the medic training lane.
All through the challenges, the soldiers have worked together, knowing that any of them could be paired together for the Army-wide competition.
Ersando said he's anxious to see how he stacks up against other top medics.
Master Sgt. Daryl Newton of Northern Regional Medical Command served as noncommissioned officer in charge of the command's best medic competition.
He said judging the soldiers individually rather than in teams gives the command a better opportunity to win at the Army level.
He said the competition is designed to make the medics work under extreme conditions and test their abilities to triage patients, prioritizing more severe injuries without neglecting other wounded troops.
"They definitely have to be the best," said Womack Army Medical Center Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Gomez, who observed the competition Tuesday.
Medics have to be at the top of their game, he said, because they carry more equipment than your typical infantryman and also must know how to treat any number of injuries.
"A medic has to be physically fit, and he has to have confidence in himself and from his team," Gomez said.
The Army's Best Medic competition will take place Nov. 5-7, officials said.
Awards to the top three medic teams will be presented by the commanding general of Army Medical Command, Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, a former Womack nurse and native of Fayetteville who also serves as Army surgeon general.
Military editor Drew Brooks can be reached at brooksd@fayobserver.com or 486-3567.
Copyright 2014 - The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
