JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –
Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) - M again earned Tier 1 readiness capability certification, after completing a two-week training evolution on June 26 at Naval Expeditionary Medical Training Institute (NEMTI) in Camp Pendleton, California.
EMF-M is staffed by personnel from Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Jacksonville and a detachment from NMRTC Bethesda.
“This training supports our readiness to deploy and save lives,” said Capt. David Barrows, commanding officer of EMF-M and executive officer of NMRTC Jacksonville and Naval Hospital Jacksonville. “We deliver a ready medical force to Navy and DoD missions across the globe.”
EMF-M personnel operated a 50-bed field hospital that includes an intensive care unit, operating room, and ambulatory care capabilities. During the exercise’s first phase, personnel set up the field hospital and food services. The second phase saw EMF-M personnel engaged in multiple combat-environment scenarios.
The exercises began with Role 1 units. That’s typically the first medical personnel on-scene in combat; they triage and provide immediate lifesaving measures. This team then transfers the simulated patients to the Role II crew. Role II personnel provide advanced trauma life-support care, stabilizing patients to save life and limb, and prepping the patient for evacuation to a Role III unit. In this case, that’s a 50-bed field hospital; the field hospital could be larger in a real deployment. Role III units provide additional capabilities, like surgery and specialty care, to either return warfighters to duty or transfer patients to a U.S. facility for longer-term treatment.
The training included running casualty scenarios throughout all areas of the Role III field hospital. As a culminating activity, staff participated in an operational readiness evaluation, to assess their patient processing and handling skills, and coordination across functional areas.
As a result, EMF-M was recommended to be considered as an independent unit ready for tasking, certifying the platform’s Tier 1 readiness capability, with the ability to provide combat operations medical support to U.S. Fleet Forces.
Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Jacksonville (co-located with Naval Hospital Jacksonville) ensures warfighters’ medical readiness to deploy and clinicians’ readiness to save lives. NMRTC Jacksonville and NH Jacksonville form an integrated system of readiness and health. NH Jacksonville (which includes five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia) serves 175,000 active duty, active duty family members, and retired service members, including 57,000 patients who are enrolled with a primary care manager. To find out more, visit https://jacksonville.tricare.mil.