FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Fort Cavazos officials conducted a full-scale exercise on the installation, practicing a response to a trail derailment on the railhead behind Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center May 6 here.

“This is part of our multiyear training exercise plan as a contingency to make sure that we’re ready and prepared in case of any kind of incident or unexpected event,” said Juan Nava, chief of plans and supports and exercise director, Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security. “Many unexpected events have happened on this installation before, so we’re just maintaining our readiness to be able to respond and react.”

The exercise posed multiple casualties, some of them at CRDAMC, where the hospital simulated a triage response with role players portraying victims being triaged and moved for treatment.

“Our initial concern is making sure that we are receiving and treating casualties,” said Col. Joseph Yancey, chief medical officer, CRDAMC, and hospital incident commander for the exercise. “Our emergency room has a whole drill about how we set up and triage those casualties when we have more than we can handle, line in a normal fashion. So that starts without us doing any coordination first because they’re already drilled that, and they drill that all the time.

“What we do is then we make sure that we are set up to make sure those casualties are received here,” he continued. “Where do they go from there? Are we able to keep them here? Do we need support from civilian partners in the community? What other resources do we need? And for that matter, an incident like what happened notionally today, we have to be concerned about the safety of the building itself. So there’s a lot of things that we talk about and drill through about how we would handle our own internal movement or internal evacuation, potentially, of patients.”

Coordination took place between on- and off-post agencies, including CRDAMC, DPTMS, Directorate of Emergency Services, area hospitals, Killeen Independent School District and BNSF Railway.

“The (coordinating organizations) all need to be able to bring in their information together so they can create one common operating picture for the commander so (he/she) can make a decision,” Nava explained. “We want to make sure (the commander is) provided relevant and timely information so that we can minimize damage, mitigate the hazard and recover and go back to normal operations.”

Communication and coordination with all partners is critical, said Greta Buccellato, deputy to the U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos commander.

“Major League Baseball teams and National Football League teams, they don’t play their big games without practicing, right?” she said. “So while we hope to never play these games, it’s important that we’re ready. In order to be ready, we have to practice and to practice without your key partners, you miss something in the big games. It’s very hard to form impactful relationships on the day of the big game. You need to do it before then.

“The value of these types of exercises,” she continued, “is not only establishing the relationships and furthering the relationships over time, but gaining a comfort level that your teammates are going to be there when you need them and that they’re going to come through for you.”

Broll of the Fort Cavazos annual full scale exercise 

There are 4 segments to the video.

Segment 1: Interview 00:04:25
Juan Nava, USAG Fort Cavazos Chief of Plans and Operations, Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security; FSE Role: Exercise Director

Segment 2: Interview 2:26:10
Col. Joseph Yancey, Chief Medical Officer, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center; FSE Role: Hospital Incident Commander

Segment 3: Interview 04:48:24
Sharon Moton, Registered Nurse/ Nurse Educator, Women’s Health Center, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center; FSE Role: RN Triage Nurse

Segment 4: B-Roll 05:32:18