ROTA, Spain – A call goes out across the two-way radio system in the Emergency Department (ED) at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Rota, an aircraft is in-coming on approach, and the landing gear has failed. This was a drill scenario that put the department and hospital on full alert on the morning of Aug 22, 2023.
The annual pre-planned exercise triggered a chain of emergency response events which tested the skills and communication of NMRTC Rota, along with Naval Station Rota installation partners and the local Spanish Medical Team 061. Culminating in a staged mass casualty event, these entities demonstrated world class collaboration in communication, casualty management, and patient movement.



Volunteer “patients” from across the installation donned simulated injuries, which allowed first responders an opportunity to assess and triage causalities. First on scene was Emergency Medical Technician Hospitalman Second Class Johnny Kim, who was responsible for transporting all eight of the exercise’s patients to the Emergency Department. Lieutenant Liesl Eichenmuller served as the triage nurse, providing timely disposition of patients to the Emergency Physician, Commander Darren Cherry, and a myriad of clinical specialists and ancillary staff. Nearly 30 staff from across the facility provided direct support in triage, evaluation, treatment, and treatment, or as members of the hospital’s incident command.



A highlight of the event was the collaboration of the ED team, translations team and the provider, nurse and emergency medical technician assigned to the Spanish 061 response team, which were able to simulate transport of two patients to a local Rota hospital. The cohesion displayed during this exercise highlighted the robust partnership the Naval Hospital maintains with host nation medical entities.
Emergency Manager, Lieutenant Patrick Marsh, implemented new techniques aimed at strengthening communication and flow of patient movement, which were inspired by a cross-national exercise he participated in while on a Navy Medicine mission in Kenya earlier this year. This best practice assisted the team in simplifying the command mass casualty response by compartmentalizing the communications team and patient movement response. This process hyper-focused training to a smaller communications team, led by Lieutenant Mark Strutton, freeing up nurses and providers to focus on patient care, while leveraging the non-clinical team.



This exercise not only established strong foundation for upcoming training sessions, but also allowed various departments including the Surgical Specialties, Medical Home Port, Inpatient Services, Patient Administration, Radiology, Dental, Translations, and healthcare administration to prepare effectively for real-world emergencies. These efforts resonate with NMRTC Rota's overarching mission of providing ready reliable care, which enhancing readiness and sustained partnerships.
Naval Hospital Rota is a forward deployed ready medical treatment facility protecting force health, sustaining medical readiness, and prepared to surge support for a major logistics base and joint tenants on demand by EUCOM, AFRICOM, and CENTCOM.