Spc. McGill and U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers from the 994th Medical Detachment (Veterinary Services) out of Round Rock, Tx., support Nueces County by providing no-cost veterinary care to the community during IRT Nueces, from June 21 through June 30, 2022 in the Greater Corpus Christi area. Services provided for the community include vaccinations, exams, and basic outpatient treatments for cats and dogs. (U.S. Army Reserve Video by 1st. Lt. Harrison Gold, Spc. Joshua Gustamente, and Maj. Jason Drake)

The 491st Medical Company Area Support (MCAS) from Santa Fe, N.M., and the 371st Minimal Care Detachment (MCD) from Twinsburg, Ohio, participated in a U.S. Army Reserve homeland operations training mission at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in association with FEMA and civil authorities Jan. 28, 2022. The 491st MCAS and the 371st MCD train alongside Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, or Nuclear (CBRN) and engineers for an emergency when CBRN is present in the environment. Capt. Elliot Fletcher from Dallas, Texas, commander of the 491st MCAS, stated, “Our job will be to provide all medical capabilities … at the basic EMT triage level to triage patients who have been involved in a catastrophic event of that occurrence to get them stabilized and moved to the next level of care as quickly as possible while in a contaminated environment.” “We try to keep our training as consistent as possible,” Staff Sgt. Curina Baca, a combat medic from Santa Fe, N. M. with the 491st MCAS. “The way that you train is the way you are going to end up doing it out there.” “It’s beneficial even in training because in case anything goes wrong, we’re right there with them,” said Sgt. Kevin Sampson, a combat medic with the 371st MCD. The 371st MCD and 491st MCAS provide Pre- and Post-Medical Monitoring for those CBRN and Engineer Soldiers who conduct reconnaissance and urban search and rescue (US&R) missions, and conduct triage operations to treat decontaminated patients. The next training event for the 491st MCAS and 371st MCD will be Guardian Response in April at Muscatatuck, Ind. further assessing the units’ ability to respond in a simulated emergency situation. They will continue training with the 307th CBRN Company from Bell, Calif., and the 409th Engineer Vertical Construction Company from Windsor, Co., units also assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve homeland operations mission. Units will remain as response forces for the homeland operations mission until June 1, 2023.

The 848th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment or FRSD from Twinsburg, Ohio, is the first U.S. Army Reserve unit to complete the Strategic Readiness Trauma Center, or STaRC, trauma readiness course. The 848th FRSD Soldiers trained on individual skills for two weeks in January through didactics, lectures, labs, preceptor-supervised hands-on patient care, and SIM labs before performing three days as the on-duty Trauma team for Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC). The unit then moved into the week-long field training exercise at Camp Bullis, Texas, focused on comprehensive wartime skills certification. “The focus of this training is on life-saving interventions needed for damage control resuscitation and damage control surgery in the deployed forward surgical environment,” U.S. Army Col. (Dr.) Tyson Becker, Director at the STaRC, said. “To achieve this, every single member of the team will understand their role in trauma care, perform necessary critical procedures, and cross-train for force multiplication.” 1st Lt. Adam Blanton, an ER nurse with the 848th FRSD from Grosse Ile, Mich., described the experience at STaRC as being professionally unmatched due to the real-life training elements. With the didactic curriculum focused on surgical repair plans to the chest and abdomen, cross-training with hands-on patient care in the BAMC clinical areas, and conducting a mass casualty exercise, the program is designed to refine medical skills, stress Soldiers during performance, and mentally prepare them for deployment. “I think this will be some of the best training I will ever receive in my career, even going forward. It’s reinforced some different types of skills you do as an individual but also as a team…. In my situation you go from working alone as a line medic to working with an FST [Forward Surgical Team] where you have all these people with advanced capabilities,” said Sgt. Jessica Andrews, a combat medic attached to the 848th FRSD from Stockbridge, M

Innovative Readiness Training Arctic Care 2022 provides no-cost healthcare services to the communities of Kodiak Island, Alaska.

U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Juan Tapia participates in the ruck march event of the 2nd Medical Brigade Best Warrior Competition at Camp Williams, Utah on Feb. 11, 2022. The Best Warrior Competition is a event where soldiers compete to distinguish themselves from their peers. (U.S. Army Reserve Photo by Spc. Ronald. D. Bell)

The 807TH Medical Command (Deployment Support) Operational Command Post (OCP), deployed from Fort Douglas, Utah, in support of the Department of Defense COVID-19 response. Soldiers left the masks, worn on their mission, behind to the U.S. Army Medical Museum, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The soldiers answered the question about what their masks would say if they could tell the story.