Winn Army Community Hospital and the 3rd Infantry Division joined forces March 7 with a mass casualty exercise to validate medical readiness in providing life-saving care for the battlefield wounded.

From the dusty frontlines to the stark trauma room, six 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team Soldiers playing the role of wounded—including the artistry of moulage to simulate gruesome combat zone wounds—provided medical Soldiers and staff training in applying critical care to save warfighters’ lives.

“This is a great opportunity to partner with our 3rd ID teammates to ensure we’re ready,” said Col. Margaret Berryman, Fort Stewart U.S. Army Medical Department Activity commander and Winn Army Community Hospital director. “Our job as a medical force is to save as many lives on the battlefield as possible. Training like this ensures we are ready to respond—anytime, all the time.”

A full showing of the combat care chain came to the aid of the six, including the hospital’s emergency department, two Fort Stewart Emergency Medical Services ambulances, and two 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade HH-60M Black Hawks. Having all these medical assets coming together is a rare event, said 3rd ID medical operations officer Maj. James Pepoon.

“Doing the coordination between echelons above and at a division level doesn’t always happen in a tactical environment,” Pepoon said. “We took advantage of [exercise] Marne Focus and integrated Winn Army Community Hospital directly into the fight.”

The exercise began in Fort Stewart’s training area, where the 2nd ABCT had just completed Spartan Focus, one of several maneuver exercises the brigade has to certify it deployment ready.

The medical evacuation helicopters flew from nearby Wright Army Airfield to the casualty collection point in the training area. From there, after loading the injured, the next stop was Donovan Field to meet the ambulances for the drive to Winn’s emergency department. Having the emergency services’ ambulance provide this link in the chain of continuing care is vital for paramedics, said. Fort Stewart EMS chief Jim Ochoa.

“For EMS, we’re the safety net for the installation—ensuring medical response for all emergencies across the cantonment and training areas,” Ochoa said. “This training allows us to practice critical steps—moving patients from aircraft to ambulance—and it lets us push the limits of what our teams and equipment can do.”

A Code Grey mass casualty exercise alert galvanized the emergency department team; Winn’s alert system uses the color grey to denote a disaster plan response. Nurses and medics sprang into action, preparing trauma rooms and bays before the simulated wounded arrived for care. They moved with what seemed practiced efficiency—hooking up leads, validating the X-ray machine and reviewing triage protocols among themselves and with additional healthcare providers who surged from other clinics to assist.

The six simulated wounded were triaged upon their arrival by the emergency department, all under the eyes of hospital leaders observing the response. Testing the steel resolve of Winn’s medical professionals to preserve warfighter readiness was the end goal, Berryman said.

“We’re here to make sure they’re combat ready,” she said. “And if anything happens on the battlefield, we’re ready to respond—to save lives and move them to the next level of care.”