ROTA, Spain- Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Rota has developed a quarterly readiness training program focused on clinical readiness skills. The program was developed because medical personnel may be called upon to utilize skills and knowledge not typically employed within their specialization whether in a traditional or operational setting.

Improving preparedness of military medical teams is a key component of the Navy Medicine and Defense Health Agency strategy aimed at building competent warfighters and a modernized, integrated, and resilient healthcare delivery system.

Because of this, the training program is geared toward both officer and enlisted and focuses on five critical care areas: airway management, surgical scrub procedures, pediatric trauma, gynecological fundamentals, and musculoskeletal assessment, with recent additions of dental emergencies, ocular (eye) trauma, and suturing techniques.

Each rotation is adaptable to accommodate different levels of experience and the expected healthcare role of the individual. Participation from all directorates in the command is highly encouraged to enhance the programs efficacy and strengthen its core objective, to increase preparedness across the hospital.

With the aim of evaluating and reinforcing wartime critical skills in a less acute hospital setting, participants undergo pre- and post-rotation survey assessments to gauge the program’s effectiveness as well as their improvement in competence and preparedness compared to baseline. Surveys administered immediately after each rotation and subsequently to monitor knowledge and skill retention over time.

“The program is designed to turn our hospital staff into a force multiplier in an operational environment. The data collected so far from the program shows a substantial increase in both confidence level and skill level in performing a variety of tasks across all modules,” said Program Coordinator, Lt. Cmdr. Jason Kopp. “This is a program has broad applicability to personnel across the hospital and I encourage anyone interested in expanding their confidence and skill set to sign up for a session.”

The training team continues to address needs for general skills practice like intravenous therapy, and realistic scenarios such as laryngospasm which is a spasm of the vocal cords that makes it difficult to speak or breathe for a short time in a post anesthesia care unit; malignant hyperthermia which is a fast rise in body temperature and severe muscle contractions; and cricothyrotomy which is a procedure used to obtain an airway when other routines methods are ineffective.

Acknowledging feedback from past participants, training team leaders are developing a skills and procedures booklet, with the aim to provide a quick guide for reference in a real-time situation.

Hospitalman Apprentice Jarrett Jenks, a Multi Service Ward Corpsman, said, “I came straight out of Corpsman school, and it was great to be able to apply the skills at each station. It was educational and a great refresher.”

The program also has an unintended benefit for general duty corpsmen providing them an opportunity to experience Navy advanced specialty schools they may be interested in further exploring.

NMRTC Rota serves as a force multiplier in Navy Medicine’s strategic global medical support mission throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East while also supporting operational readiness and maintaining a strategic repository of expertise at the Naval Hospital Rota Military Training Facility within the Iberian Peninsula.

Navy Medicine is represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.

Story originally posted on DVIDS: Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Rota Skills Proficiency Program Supports Warfighter Readiness in any Situation