Bushmaster Go Book

ix, [1], 219, [1] pages, plus covers. Illustrations. Includes chapters on Tactical Leadership, Checklists, Radio Communications; Establishing a Battalion Aid Station; Medical Platoon Operational Procedures; Battle Drills/Attack Scenarios; Evacuation; Medical Stability Operations; Health Service Support; and Appendices, Glossary, and Notes. Also includes Precombat Checklists, Troop Leading Procedures, Force Protection Levels, Individual PCI Checklist, Leader PCI Checklist, Personnel Status, Communications, Convoy PCI, Convoy Mission Briefing, Preventive Medicine, Radio Communications, Establishing a Battalion Aid Station, Mass Casualty Plans, Medical Platoon Operational Procedures, Battle Drills/Attack Scenarios, Evacuation, Medical Stability Operations, Healthy Service Support, Appendices (including Glossary). OPERATION BUSHMASTER is a field training exercise (FTX) conducted at Fort Indiatown Gap, Pennsylvania. During this exercise, senior USU medical students, Graduate Nursing students, and international military medical officers are formally evaluated on their medical knowledge and leadership abilities in a simulated, resource constrained, far forward tactical field setting. Students assume leadership positions in a joint battalion aid station where they are presented with operationally current, reality based missions and operational problems for which they must plan and execute while simultaneously managing the medical care of simulated Disease and Non-Battle Injury (DNBI) patients, combat stress casualties, and combat trauma casualties. Before "Operation Bushmaster," students go through a two-week military contingency medicine course, during which they are presented operational problems and receive pre-deployment training, just as they would prior to a real deployment. This classroom phase includes lectures and is focused on team building. The students become a cohesive unit as they prepare to deploy to a fictional country facing challenges from rebel forces. Divided into two groups, the students were sent, sequentially, to spend four days at this large National Guard base nestled in the mountains just north of Hershey, Pennsylvania. They were assigned to one of four platoons - all undergoing identical scenarios, planning and executing missions, while simultaneously caring for a variety of casualties, ranging in severity from fatigue to gunshot wounds. The exercise featured nearly 1,000 encounters with simulated patients. While patient care is a large part of their training, leadership, communication skills and logistics are just as important. Students were assigned various roles during the exercise, such as patient administrator, triage officer, medical logistics, or litter bearers transporting patients. They frequently rotated positions, allowing every student to practice each role. The students also were graded on how well they performed key positions, including platoon leader, ambulance team leader, surgeon, and combat stress control officer. They were graded on a number of factors, such as communication and leadership skills, as they were observed by more than 60 faculty members from Uniformed Services University, as well as from across the country. Revised Edition, presumed first printing thus.…