European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 19, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2the stars and stripes monday May 19. 1986 at left medics from the army Hospital in Frankfurt attend to wounded in a mass casualty exercise at Camp Eschborn near the City. Above or. I. Col done Sokol of he afr Force Hospital in Wiesbaden takes nates while conferring with army Cap. Troy mall Der left plan operations and training officer at the Frankfurt Hospital while or. Maj Marguerite Darnell right Aba of the army Hospital talks la an air Force learn member. Is photos by Lynda w. Sparks cooperation is key army of reciprocate in casualty exercises by Judy Sarasohn. Medical writer Rhein main a Germany when 100 casual lies Ofa bombing an the Island of Chry Suppus or Rived at Rhein main a at 3 15 . Saturday the air Force Hospital at Wiesbaden called the army Hospital in Frankfurt for help. Three hours later there was an explosion with to casualties at the army s Camp Eschborn and the air Force returned the favor. Or. Col Joe Egan thought the cooperative Effort was a big improvement Over 1983 when he and other army officials did not like Haw the air farce divided up the wounded from the bombing of the Marine Headquarters in Beirut Lebanon. The services also had been criticized by Pentagon officials for poor coordination then. It the exercise went Well. The serious injuries went half and hair not like with Beirut said Egan who was the Frankfurt Hospital s disaster site coordinator for the exercise. Glitches in the exercise scenarios prevented personnel Tram the two hospitals from working extensively together saturday. But when notified of the need for help medical teams from each facility responded. Several army enlisted personnel arrived first on the scene Al Rhein main without a doctor or appointed Leader they were indecisive about what to do As were the first air Force enlisted staffers who arrived shortly afterwards Aba without a doctor. But when air farce master sol. Kenneth Moon a medical technician who drove an ambulance joined his colleagues he saw he was the ranking no and look charge. He quickly sent the others to assess the condition of the casualties and inform him of significant problems. You All know Basic triage he told the others. We need to do a Quick Basic assessment. We re looking for respiratory problems cardiac  he improvised using problem drinking and divorce in he family pamphlets in various colors to Mark the Condi Tion of the patients. To was the ranking Man Here and i probably have 20 years of experience of triage and mass casually Moon said during a break. When Egan arrived Moon gave him a big hello and then launched into a rough description of the casualties and How he planned for where they would go. Both army and air Force officials said they Don t believe the casualties would have been Hurt by the Lack of a doctor immediately upon their arrival at Ibe air base. We would t gain much by starting tvs intravenous lines Here. We d lose so much time doing piddling things there to Vii the Hospital so close Egan said. At Eschborn Frankfurt sent its i member rapid response triage team to assess the condition of 40 Cas  there were supposed to have been 80, so the team was practically finished by the time the air Force team arrived by bus. Political sensitivity had cancelled their planned helicopter ride on the German Holiday weekend the air Force team took an army bus loaded with casualties to Wiesbaden and reassessed their conditions along he Way. You can t Lake what someone tells you for granted. Sometimes their flatus changes mostly the 1 get worse said or. La. Col Donald Sokol head of the air Force team. Both hospitals treated the casualties while also taking care of Raul put Falls and delivering babies. The army Hospital finished its Eicr Cise about noon but the air Force facility went on through the night until 6 . Sunday. Wiesbaden wits trying to see How it would opera be under increased pressure 470 casualties of various blasts crashes Ana fronts were handled Over the 24-hour period. The air Force Hospital also tested for the first Lime its new wartime Mission to handle casualty retrieval triage and life saving care As Well As definitive care in one Loca Tion those activities arc normally slated for two facilities. It really allows us to have a lot of flexibility. We re doing More with fewer staff members said or. Col Ken a acct commander of the Wiesbaden Hospital. By Early sunday morning Wiesbaden decided that. If the puce was going to keep up help would be needed. Trie Hospital arranged for the medical evacuation of 91 patients to England 15 to the German Hospital in Mainz and six to he army Hospital in Lan Stuhl. Assistance was requested from ibo reserves. Maffet said the Hospital staff Learned a number of Les sons including that it needs to find a better area for initial triage and life saving activities and improved communications equipment. Bui he said the Hospital did a Good Job of handling the massive number of casualties. The limit Irig Factor Here would not be personnel he said but supplies. How quickly we can gel