NMRTC Rota Supports Diverse Regional Missions to Safeguard and Prepare Warfighters and Allies

Since October 2023, more than 52 hospital personnel have been involved in several missions at installations within the Fleet and in partnership with allied nations across United State European Command (EUCOM) and United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).

These missions encompassed medical support for ships and remote commands, and included training exchanges, assistance during Fleet exercises, and various Global Health Engagements (GHE). While the primary role of the deployer is to provide direct clinical care or training expertise to the Navy’s strategic partners, these missions also serve as exceptional learning opportunities for staff to grow and adapt their hospital training to the operational or humanitarian setting.

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Tristan Carter, a Surgical Technician, recently returned from a clinical mission with the Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary sea base, USS Hershel W “Woody” Williams (ESB 4). During his 12-week temporary duty, he was responsible for maintaining the ship’s critical operative functions and provided subject matter expertise to the embedded medical and training teams.

“The most exciting part was being able to coordinate a ship wide emergency drill encompassing all the different emergency response teams, including damage control, flight deck crash and salvage, and the medical and surgical teams,” said Carter who was also able to leverage his certification as a Combat Marksmanship Coach to assist embarked Marines maintain their weapons qualifications.

Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Louis Walker spent six-months aboard USS Bulkeley (DDG 84). There he gained valuable experience related to acute medical appointments, basic life support, first aid, and emergency preparedness. He also worked alongside the ship’s Independent Duty Corpsman (IDC), providing both High Quality Care and Trauma Combat Casualty Care Training for up to 300 Sailors, improving their ability to respond to emergent situations. Walker was also able to test the ship’s water supply, perform food safety inspections, monitor the heat stress program, and administer vaccines to protect the ship’s crew from communicable disease and occupational hazards.

Cmdr. Suzanne Gudeman, a Urologist from Bloomington, Illinois, contributed to Cutlass Express 2023, an annual multinational exercise in Kenya. During this GHE mission, the team shared clinical expertise with host nation medical providers, fostering goodwill and understanding between partner nations.

“This experience was a great opportunity to assess host nation skills, provide helpful feedback, and build a sense of teamwork and collaboration with our partners,” said Gudeman. “I’m thankful to be able to share our knowledge and learn more about providing healthcare in under-resourced areas.”

Lessons learned from these diverse missions have been incorporated into a command training program which prepares Hospital Corpsmen and medical professionals to support the operational forces. NMRTC has also re-engineered its annual training plan to ensure opportunity for medical teams to be well prepared with the diverse skill sets needed for ship or remote command roles, to include preventive medicine, acute care evaluation, and medical emergency training.

NMRTC Commanding Officer Captain William Scouten said he recognizes personnel development is critical to both ensure mission success and professional satisfaction. “We have created within our command, a learning environment that broadens and reinforces the clinical decisions and practices, and hones skills, ultimately improving the quality of patient care delivered both on a mission and within the hospital setting.”

Enlisted Sailors who have been involved in Fleet missions have also benefited from the opportunity to achieve their Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist qualification, the highest qualification the Surface Navy awards to enlisted service members. They have also been able to and exposure to different cultures, shipboard life, medical planning, and care management in resource limited conditions.

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 MTF 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: NMRTC Rota Supports Diverse Regional Missions to Safeguard and Prepare Warfighters and Allies