One of the major challenges the U.S. Army faces in Afghanistan and Iraq is reducing the number of soldiers dying on the battlefield. To reduce the mortality rate, the Army needed to obtain a standardized, state-of-the-art simulation training program not just for medics, but for any soldier who could give critical first aid to comrades wounded in the immediate aftermath of a roadside bombing, an ambush or full-scale battle.
CSC, a world leader in applying information technology to solve critical problems, was awarded a competitive three-year, GSA indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to run the Army’s
Medical Simulation Training Centers (MTSC). For the Army, CSC created a comprehensive program that provides training, lesson planning, and development of course materials; cognitive and psychomotor assessment skills for professional and non-professional certifications; and simulated war scenarios as realistic as life. In May 2008, as a team member of the Raytheon-led Warfighter Training Alliance on the Warfighter FOCUS contract, CSC was awarded a 10-year fixed-price award fee and time and materials contract to continue its support to the MSTCs until April 2017.
According to Military Simulation & Training magazine, the Army hopes to reduce the “died of wounds” rate 70 to 90 percent through the MSTC program. U.S. Army War College researcher Col. Richard Thomas said, “An important contributor to improved survivability is the enhanced training for Army combat medics in caring for trauma victims. It is the skills of a combat medic (or other ‘first responder’) that determine the outcome for most of the wounded.” In his report, “Ensuring Good Medicine in Bad Places,” Thomas notes that during Operation Iraqi Freedom one in every eight injured troops (9 percent) died of wounds, compared with one in four (24 percent) during Korea, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War, and one in three during World War II.
For soldiers to take the training seriously and learn to operate under fire, the simulation scenarios demanded authenticity. The CSC team worked with the U.S. Army reviewing the objectives and strategies of a broad range of training courses, helping draft recommended equipment and supply lists, and integrating 29 pre-programmed injury scenario modules that mimic the physiological effects produced in actual traumatic injuries, metabolic dysfunctions, and disease processes.
In managing the operation of more than 20 Army training centers, CSC also helps prepare soldiers psychologically to operate in potentially overwhelming situations by creating environments in which trainees encounter the sounds, smoke, smells and casualties of battle. The casualties—represented by highly sophisticated mannequins that blink, breathe, scream, lose arms and legs, bleed and potentially die if they do not receive the correct medical interventions—wear the same uniforms and equipment that soldiers do.
Additionally, trainees must contend with hostile and friendly force engagements and come under fire from snipers and insurgents through live simulation conducted by both Army and CSC instructors using mock weapons. Trainees also confront simulated dismembered body parts designed to distract and psychologically throw them into situations which they may never have encountered before. They come upon damaged helicopters and transport vehicles—helping them develop life-saving psychomotor skills such as extricating casualties and providing medical care to patients in those platforms.
The MSTC courses include classroom lectures, a medical psychomotor skills laboratory, and simulation training. In the classes, each student serves all roles: as medical provider, team leader, and combatant support. CSC captures and edits actual video footage of the trainees, enabling them to critique each other and themselves, not only as the health-care provider but also as team member.
Between November 2005 and August 2008, approximately 50,000 students graduated from the CSC-operated sites; and estimates project between 2,400 and 3,000 soldier trainees will graduate annually from each MSTC site.
In addition, employees from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, US Marshalls Service, National Park Service, civilian firefighters, and law enforcement have been trained in the centers and are benefitting from the training.
CSC, a world leader in applying information technology to solve critical problems, was awarded a competitive three-year, GSA indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to run the Army’s
Medical Simulation Training Centers (MTSC). For the Army, CSC created a comprehensive program that provides training, lesson planning, and development of course materials; cognitive and psychomotor assessment skills for professional and non-professional certifications; and simulated war scenarios as realistic as life. In May 2008, as a team member of the Raytheon-led Warfighter Training Alliance on the Warfighter FOCUS contract, CSC was awarded a 10-year fixed-price award fee and time and materials contract to continue its support to the MSTCs until April 2017. According to Military Simulation & Training magazine, the Army hopes to reduce the “died of wounds” rate 70 to 90 percent through the MSTC program. U.S. Army War College researcher Col. Richard Thomas said, “An important contributor to improved survivability is the enhanced training for Army combat medics in caring for trauma victims. It is the skills of a combat medic (or other ‘first responder’) that determine the outcome for most of the wounded.” In his report, “Ensuring Good Medicine in Bad Places,” Thomas notes that during Operation Iraqi Freedom one in every eight injured troops (9 percent) died of wounds, compared with one in four (24 percent) during Korea, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War, and one in three during World War II.
For soldiers to take the training seriously and learn to operate under fire, the simulation scenarios demanded authenticity. The CSC team worked with the U.S. Army reviewing the objectives and strategies of a broad range of training courses, helping draft recommended equipment and supply lists, and integrating 29 pre-programmed injury scenario modules that mimic the physiological effects produced in actual traumatic injuries, metabolic dysfunctions, and disease processes.
In managing the operation of more than 20 Army training centers, CSC also helps prepare soldiers psychologically to operate in potentially overwhelming situations by creating environments in which trainees encounter the sounds, smoke, smells and casualties of battle. The casualties—represented by highly sophisticated mannequins that blink, breathe, scream, lose arms and legs, bleed and potentially die if they do not receive the correct medical interventions—wear the same uniforms and equipment that soldiers do.
Additionally, trainees must contend with hostile and friendly force engagements and come under fire from snipers and insurgents through live simulation conducted by both Army and CSC instructors using mock weapons. Trainees also confront simulated dismembered body parts designed to distract and psychologically throw them into situations which they may never have encountered before. They come upon damaged helicopters and transport vehicles—helping them develop life-saving psychomotor skills such as extricating casualties and providing medical care to patients in those platforms.
The MSTC courses include classroom lectures, a medical psychomotor skills laboratory, and simulation training. In the classes, each student serves all roles: as medical provider, team leader, and combatant support. CSC captures and edits actual video footage of the trainees, enabling them to critique each other and themselves, not only as the health-care provider but also as team member.
Between November 2005 and August 2008, approximately 50,000 students graduated from the CSC-operated sites; and estimates project between 2,400 and 3,000 soldier trainees will graduate annually from each MSTC site.
In addition, employees from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, US Marshalls Service, National Park Service, civilian firefighters, and law enforcement have been trained in the centers and are benefitting from the training.
