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                         October 10, 2003

Story and photos by Spc. Eric S. Bartelt
Leisure Editor

Two West Point firefighters carry a casualty to an ambulance during the MASCAL exercise.

Pfc. Agnes Ortiz, KACH medic, stabilizes a patient’s neck during the MASCAL exercise.

Bloody bodies littered the field, screams of horror came from victims and medical personnel jumped to respond.

Community members here held a mass casualty exercise Oct. 3 at Buffalo Soldier Field to test the installation’s new Casualty Tracking System.

Nearly 50 volunteers took part in the exercise that included personnel from Keller Army Community Hospital, the West Point Fire Department and the Provost Marshal’s Office. Many local emergency medical service units participated including the Town of Highlands, Cornwall, New Windsor and Woodbury.

The purpose, KACH officials explained, was to test the CTS as well as the academy’s ability to respond to, mitigate and recover from a MASCAL event.

"Based on previous exercises, we decided we needed a system to help give us real-time and accurate information," said Joseph Pfanzelter, KACH emergency management director.

A group of casualties are placed together for movement to the hospital. Spc. Andrea Myers and Sgt. Aaron Wilkinson prepare to litter-carry a patient to an ambulance.

According to Pfanzelter, CTS will provide information on number of victims, names and locations of those involved and what injuries they have suffered.

It consists of a handheld device and bar coded patient wristband; the medical attendant performs the triage then places the wristband on the patient, scans the bar code and enters the information via pull-down menus, said Spc. James Embry, KACH medic.

Spc. James Embry, KACH medic, checks the status of a casualty during a MASCAL exercise Oct. 3. Embry is using the new Casualty Tracking System to take down information about the victim.

Embry explained that once the user sends the information, it is immediately forward to a monitor in an emergency operations center that keeps track of the patient. As the patient is moved through the treatment areas, the user rescans the bar code and updates the information.

The system helps provide accountability and more control in a disaster, said Pfanzelter.

"In a mass casualty situation, Keller will need to coordinate with other hospitals for resources," said Embry. "You’re able to divide your resources and understand the need to send people to other facilities.

"So it’s a management process because now you know the patient’s status as well as location through this system," he added.

This system would also erase the need to bring administrative personnel out to the casualty site and have them manually tag each individual for injury and accountability purposes.

Now, it would become a one-step process where the medics on site can evaluate and account for each patient. The time saved may also save precious moments that a patient needs to get to the hospital.

"It’s going to help us get victims off the field and to the hospital quicker," Pfanzelter said. "When you’re getting things done quicker, you might be saving lives."