The newly revamped center for sustainment of trauma and readiness skills training site in St. Louis, Mo., recently opened a highly realistic emergency medicine trauma simulation lab where Air Force medical personnel can sharpen their trauma care skills prior to an expeditionary deployment. “The lab can simulate multiple patient trauma and help medical personnel make the decision on what to do with a patient, whether to airlift them out, perform surgery, or come up with an alternative plan,” said Capt. Scott Fallin, C-STARS administrator at St. Louis. The lab features life-like mannequins with vital signs and bodily functions. The students treat the faux patients under the watchful eyes of instructors who can alter the mannequins’ conditions to challenge the students. When treatment is correct, a mannequin’s condition improves. If incorrect, its condition will worsen. St. Louis is one of three C-STAR training locations for Air Force medical personnel, along with Baltimore and Cincinnati. (Scott report by A1C Andrew Davis and Laura Mays) (For more on expeditionary medical care, including C-STARS, read AfterM*A*S*H.)
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.