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Fort McCoy was one of three military posts in the United States to hold the Annual Global Medic Training Exercise last week.

Fort McCoy, Fort Gordon, GA, and Camp Parks, CA, held several days of simulated medical training. Training also occurred at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina and the USNS Comfort.

Global Medic is the United States Army Reserve Command’s premier medical exercise. It is a joint medical training environment with the participating members of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Formerly known as Golden Medic, the exercise now also includes international participation.

Set up for the exercise began on June 7, and the training began on Friday. Medical units worked around the clock, treating mannequins and live simulated injured until Tuesday

Two Forward Operating Bases (FOB) where set up over a span of three days at Fort McCoy. The FOBs are large tent structures used for medical purposes and include an emergency room, operating room and pre-op, two intensive care units, an intensive care ward, pharmacy, lab, x-ray, and medical supply. Units work together during the training and are observed during their training scenario.

“In Iraq, this is what it is like, using all of your resources,” Lieutenant Deidre Matt said. “The main goal for this training event is 80 percent technical and 20 percent tactical. We are more concerned about treating patients.”

The military objectives of the exercise are to train soldiers in combat health service, develop synchronization between tactical and clinical operations, and integrate joint and coalition medical forces.

During the simulation, a helicopter brings in the simulated patients, and the patients are taken out of the landing zone and assessed. The 1982nd Surgical Team of the Army Reserves of New York was on hand to treat the mannequins and actors, and sometimes had to deal with other real-life issues such as acting patients refusing treatment. Each person has been trained on a certain task, and they are observed to assess strengths and weaknesses, and for future improvement.

“It is not about ‘You should have done this or that,’” Matt said. “It is about training and learning.”

The exercise includes many aspects other than surgery and severe injuries. There is also a minimal care detachment that provides nursing, rehabilitative services, and lower level hospitalization.

Roughly 463 people participated in the exercise at Fort McCoy, including two participants from Germany and one from England. The event, which got off to a good start on Friday, wrapped up Tuesday at Fort McCoy and other locations around the country.

“It has been going very well,” said Col. Carl L. Augustus, who oversaw the Fort McCoy exercise, said on day one of the simulation. “The joint services, along with base support operations, have been outstanding. The community has been great as well. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”