JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas – Cmdr. Thomas Sather, Director for the Naval Medical Forces Development Command’s (NMFDC) Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) program, has been recognized with two prestigious awards for his pivotal role in revolutionizing life support and medical training for both military and civilian personnel.

Sather recently received the American Red Cross Chairpersons’ Award for his significant contributions to the Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council. He was also honored by the Aerospace Medical Association with the Aerospace Physiology Society’s Fred A. Hitchcock Award for his outstanding performance as a senior aerospace physiologist.

"I’m very honored to have received these awards," Sather said. "And I feel incredibly blessed to be at NMFDC, working with exceptional people and mentors who empower me to pursue my passion."

A key initiative Sather is spearheading at NMFDC is the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery’s TCCC program and ensuring it is incorporated at all levels of learning within the Navy Medicine Enterprise. A task he says synergizes well with his work with the American Red Cross.

“The American Red Cross has supported the military, veterans, and their families since 1896 going back to the Spanish-American War. My current role as Chairperson of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council's education sub-council allows me to integrate lessons learned from civilian emergency medicine, first responders, disaster preparedness and even everyday situations like lifeguarding and babysitting, to create a comprehensive and adaptable training framework for military-specific needs."

This collaboration also allows Sather to contribute to another NMFDC initiative - the shift towards an integrated learning environment or blended learning approach for medical training within the NME. This method combines online cognitive learning with hands-on skills training facilitated by advanced technology.

"The medical community is able to use what's known as the ‘integrated learning environment’ or the blended learning approach where you learn all the cognitive or didactic materials first using online curricula," he explained. "After that, you would come in and do face-to-face skills training with an instructor/mentor and then you would test out for certification."

By incorporating such innovative approaches, Sather and the team aim to enhance the development and delivery of training for naval medical professionals, NMFDC’s commander said.

"These will save significant time and money, and crucially, increase the availability of Navy doctors, nurses, physicians’ assistants and corpsmen by reducing their time confined to traditional classrooms," Rear Adm. Walter Brafford, said. “The team is also testing and researching augmented and virtual reality platforms to provide our medical professionals with close-to-real-life scenarios give us a cutting edge in how we develop, train, educate and prepare them for the fleet, keeping our warfighters safe and prepared for any operational environment.”
Sather winning these two prestigious awards speaks to the caliber of professionals here at NMFDC that ensure we stay on mission, Brafford added.

For Sather, his work extends far beyond accolades.

"If I don't do my job right at NMFDC and with TCCC, the people in the future battle space may lack the knowledge, skill or application to save someone's life, and I do not want that on my conscience," he concluded.

"Our team constantly strives to stay on the leading edge, working smarter, and delivering high-quality products in optimal time to support the Surgeon General, Combatant Commands, the Chief of Naval Operations and basically everybody who puts on a uniform and goes forward."