Combat Social Work at Forward Operating Base Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan

2020 ◽  
pp. 276-300
Author(s):  
Dan M. Grinstead
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
National Guard ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
60Th Birthday ◽  
Army National Guard ◽  
Mass Casualty Event ◽  
Forward Operating Base

This chapter includes a description of the author’s training and experience in the Iowa Army National Guard that prepared him for his deployment to Afghanistan. The author explains: How, at age 57, he decided to join the Iowa Army National Guard, with the goal of doing something about the huge problem: increasing numbers of military service related suicides. He discusses his experience of going through the Officer’s Basic Leadership Course to celebrating his 60th birthday but shortly afterwards he was sent to Afghanistan. He describes his year there as providing combat social work services in a setting where at any time, you could be subject to a rocket or motor attack. Among the challenges leading to lessons learned was establishing trust among his clients. All were reluctant to talk with a “shrink.” An especially moving section of his chapter was about conducting a critical incident debriefing after a mass casualty event.

scholarly journals Aurora Bridge Bus Crash Review of a Mass Casualty Event Pre-hospital and Hospital Response, Lessons Learned

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-65
Author(s):  
Stephen C. Morris ◽  
◽  
Joshua Jauregui ◽  
Andrew M. McCoy ◽  
Steven H. Mitchell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Mass Casualty Event ◽  
Hospital Response

scholarly journals Mass casualty events: what to do as the dust settles?

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. e000210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel M Russo ◽  
Joseph M Galante ◽  
John B Holcomb ◽  
Warren Dorlac ◽  
Jason Brocker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Panel Discussion ◽  
Trauma Team ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Detention Center ◽  
Plane Crash ◽  
Mass Casualty Events ◽  
Boston Marathon Bombing ◽  
Mass Casualty Event ◽  
Boston Marathon

Care during mass casualty events (MCE) has improved during the last 15 years. Military and civilian collaboration has led to partnerships which augment the response to MCE. Much has been written about strategies to deliver care during an MCE, but there is little about how to transition back to normal operations after an event. A panel discussion entitled The Day(s) After: Lessons Learned from Trauma Team Management in the Aftermath of an Unexpected Mass Casualty Event at the 76th Annual American Association for the Surgery of Trauma meeting on September 13, 2017 brought together a cadre of military and civilian surgeons with experience in MCEs. The events described were the First Battle of Mogadishu (1993), the Second Battle of Fallujah (2004), the Bagram Detention Center Rocket Attack (2014), the Boston Marathon Bombing (2013), the Asiana Flight 214 Plane Crash (2013), the Baltimore Riots (2015), and the Orlando Pulse Night Club Shooting (2016). This article focuses on the lessons learned from military and civilian surgeons in the days after MCEs.

Medical Response to the Tianjin Explosions: Lessons Learned

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Jun Zhang ◽  
Tian-Bing Wang ◽  
Da Fan ◽  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Bao-Guo Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Prehospital Care ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Medical Response ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Mass Casualty Event ◽  
The Government

AbstractBackgroundOn August 12, 2015, a hazardous chemical explosion occurred in the Tianjin Port of China. The explosions resulted in 165 deaths, 8 missing people, injuries to thousands of people. We present the responses of emergency medical services and hospitals to the explosions and summarize the lessons that can be learned.MethodsThis study was a retrospective analysis of the responses of emergency medical services and hospitals to the Tianjin explosions. Data on injuries, outcomes, and patient flow were obtained from the government and the hospitals.ResultsA total of 46 ambulances and 143 prehospital care professionals were dispatched to the scene, and 198 wounded were transferred to hospitals by ambulance. More than 4000 wounded casualties surged into hospitals, and 798 wounded were admitted. Both emergency medical services and hospitals were quick and successful in the early stage of the explosions. The strategy of 4 centralizations (4Cs) for medical services management in a mass casualty event was successfully applied.ConclusionsThe risk of accidental events has increased in recent years. We should take advantage of the lessons learned from the explosions and apply these in future disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018; 12: 411–414)

War and Commitment to Military Service: Deployment and Combat Experiences Associated With Retention Among Army National Guard Soldiers

2021 ◽  
pp. 0095327X2110172
Author(s):  
James Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Military Service ◽  
National Guard ◽  
Combat Trauma ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Army National Guard ◽  
Financial Difficulties ◽  
Home Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Service Deployment

The present study examined career intentions in two samples—home-based or garrison ( N = 12,583 soldiers in 180 companies) and deployed and recently returned soldiers ( N = 4,551 in 50 companies). Proportionally, fewer deployed soldiers than home-based garrison soldiers intended to stay in reserve military service. Among deployed soldiers, those who reported having experienced combat trauma, having had wounded or killed someone, and having had a friend killed in combat were less likely to plan to continue military service; reservists more likely to continue military service had returned to the same civilian job after deployment. Among deployed and garrison soldiers, fewer financial difficulties were associated with higher likelihood of continuing reserve military service. Examples from the social constructionist perspective of reserve military service are used to elaborate on mechanisms in these associations.

Lessons learned from a landslide catastrophe in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Monteiro Tavares Pereira, MD, MSc ◽  
Wellington Morales, MD ◽  
Ricardo Galesso Cardoso, MD ◽  
Rossano Fiorelli, MD, PhD ◽  
Gustavo Pereira Fraga, MD, PhD ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Fire Department ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Medical Examiner ◽  
Hospital Organization ◽  
Mountain Area ◽  
Mass Casualty Event ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Future Events

Introduction: On January, 2011, a devastating tropical storm hit the mountain area of Rio de Janeiro State in Brazil, resulting in flooding and mudslides and leaving 30,000 individuals displaced.Objective: This article explores key lessons learned from this major mass casualty event, highlighting prehospital and hospital organization for receiving multiple victims in a short period of time, which may be applicable in similar future events worldwide.Methods: A retrospective review of local hospital medical/fire department records and data from the Health and Security Department of the State were analyzed. Medical examiner archives were analyzed to determine the causes of death.Results: The most common injuries were to the extremities, the majority requiring only wound cleaning, debridement, and suture. Orthopedic surgeries were the most common operative procedures. In the first 3 days, 191 victims underwent triage at the hospital with 50 requiring admission to the hospital. Two hundred fifty patients were triaged at the hospital by the end of the fifth day.The mortis cause for the majority of deaths was asphyxia, either by drowning or mud burial.Conclusion: Natural disasters are able to generate a large number of victims and overwhelm the main channels of relief available. Main lessons learned are as follows: 1) prevention and training are key points, 2) key measures by the authorities should be taken as early as possible, and 3) the centralization of the deceased in one location demonstrated greater effectiveness identifying victims and releasing the bodies back to families.

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