Page 231 - 2022 Ranger Medic Handbook

FAMILIARIZATION WITH MEDICAL ASSETS
■ Published references
É Field Hospital
É Forward Surgical Resuscitative Detachment (FRSD)
É Medical Company Area Support (MCAS)
■ Review these key Army Health System and Force health Protection publications at https://armypubs.army.mil/:
É FM 4-02 Army Health System
É ATP 4-02.3 Army Health System Support to Maneuver Forces
É ATP 4-02.55 Army Health System Support Planning
■ Can you see their layout/equipment?
■ Can you conduct familiarization training as required?
■ What are their capabilities and limitations?
■ Can you talk to them and what can they know about you and your mission?

Special Operations and Augmentation of Surgical or Medical Support Assets. In special operations contingencies,
the evacuation and receiving facilities options may be greatly different from the medical support in a developed theater.
The “golden hour” can be significantly extended in distance and time from the point of injury to an established medical
or surgical facility with proper implementation of special operations surgical assets. The current battlefield and future
contingency operations nullify the option of calling in a MEDEVAC or quickly evacuating a casualty to a field hospital. The
evacuation and long-range care capability may need to be completely planned and coordinated using the assets organic to
the special operations task force. In these cases, it is critical that these capabilities be augmented into the special opera-
tions task force when time and OPSEC allows. The intent remains to get a traumatized casualty appropriate en route care
to an advanced surgical or medical capability as quickly as possible. Such contingencies will require augmentation from
other units or attachments to conduct en route casualty stabilization on a designated platform or sequence of platforms
until the casualty reaches a fixed facility. Augmentation capabilities requirements must be identified early in the planning
process to allow adequate time for the planning and coordination. Once this medical asset is identified, it must integrate
early into the planning and synchronization process. Assets will need to be prestaged at specific locations or on evacua-
tion platforms in order to provide the unit with the upmost capability. Unit leadership will develop a thorough understand
that these special medical assets become part of the overall unit plan and execution. The unit may have to adjust combat
loads in order to stage or infiltrate medical support assets as required. Ultimately, the unit commander is responsible for the
allocation, synchronization, and employment of all the augmented medical resources available to complete the unit’s mis-
sion. The medical planner’s responsibility is to ensure the commander and staff is well informed of requirements, capabili-
ties, limitations, and employment methods of medical augmentation. Subsequently, the medical planner must provide the
medical augmentation with the constraints and restrictions that they must operate within the mission. Special operations,
by its very nature, tend to be a joint, interagency, and international affair. Therefore, the medical planner must widen their SECTION 7
viewpoint to all available medical resources and capabilities within reach. Familiarization with the medical unit capabilities
of other military services and international assets is imperative to mission success. Additionally, the use of host-nation
medical capabilities must be factored in as an option if necessary.
Primary and Alternate Planning. As with all military operations, the unit and the medical planner will develop back-up
plans. A unit should never launch on a combat mission with a single planned means of casualty evacuation. Alternatives
for all possible routes of evacuation to and from the objective (e.g., air, ground, water) should be written into the medical
plan. Alternate receiving facilities should be identified in case mass casualty situations occur or conditions prohibit evacu-
ation to primary facilities. Additionally, weather and environmental conditions can have detrimental effects on pre-planned
evacuation operations that can be mitigated by a good alternate plan. As the medical planner develops the tactical medi-
cal support plan the following must be considered: Primary and alternate means of evacuation including the capabilities,
limitations, distances and communications methods; primary and alternate receiving medical treatment facility to include
capabilities, limitations, bed status and mass casualty over-flow contingencies.

2022 RANGER MEDIC HANDBOOK 217