Community ties strong as Offutt preps for Air Show with MARE

  • Published
  • By Landy C. Schwiesow
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  Saturday morning, people from Offutt and all over the Omaha area lined up for a cup of coffee and a donut at the fire station here. Some friends are caught up with each other with bits of light-hearted laughter, while others gathered themselves by wiping the sleep from their eyes. 

Oddly enough, some of these people looked disheveled, bloodied and in need of medical attention. Bones were protruding through skin, chemical burns oozed fluid, and sucking chest wounds, well, sucked. Others who should have rushed to their aid, simply stood around making light conversation. 

What looked like lunch break on the set of a bad made-for-television movie was actually Team Offutt's way of preparing for a worst-case scenario at the 2009 "Defenders of Freedom" Annual Open House and Air Show. Team Offutt and surrounding communities practiced coordinated efforts here August 15 during a Major Accident Response Exercise. 

Twenty years ago, prior training with volunteers and the medical community like this aided officials when United Flight 232 crashed at Sioux City, Iowa's Gateway Airport one mid-July day. 

According to Maj. Michael Zimmerman, director for the 55th Wing Exercises and Inspections Division, there were over 150 volunteers from the community in addition to the Team Offutt volunteers. Nine area hospitals along with the Red Cross, the United Way, the Salvation Army and many other organizations participated in the event. 

Volunteers who posed as accident victims were mocked up and painted with realistic-looking wounds and burns by volunteer artists. This process is called "moulage," and is the art of applying mock injuries for the purpose of training emergency response teams and other medical and military personnel. 

With the moulage team prepped and in place, the MARE kicked off at 9:30 a.m. with a simulated C-17 aircraft crash. A variety of medical teams and rescue squads responded rapidly and began to triage the victims. Due to lightning and heavy rain, the event was moved inside the north end of the Offutt Field House. 

"We came out and evaluated Offutt's ability to assess the situation and began identifying victims and moving them away from any kind of hazard," said Major Zimmerman. 

As the weather broke an hour or so into the exercise, two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters arrived from the Nebraska Army National Guard in Lincoln. Each Blackhawk transported two victims on litters and two "walking" victims to Creighton University's St. Joseph Hospital. The rest of the participants were transported to local hospitals via Offutt ambulances, busses and local community rescue units. 

As the medical staff and volunteers worked to clear the "play area," Offutt Fire Department crews worked at containing the simulated crash-site. 

"Fire crash crews pulled fire extinguishing hand-lines and simulated entering the aircraft to rescue trapped crewmembers," said Offutt Fire Chief David Eblin. 

They also went through the process of shutting the aircraft engines down, simulated the containment of fuel, and shutting down storm drains to prevent fuel from damaging the environment. 

As the exercise events unfolded, other organizations from the base joined in. The Airmen and Family Readiness Center stood up the Emergency Family Assistance Control Center at the Bellevue Christian Center. This was the first time the EFACC was stood up to assist families during natural or man-made disasters involving mass casualties or evacuation. 

"We activated and opened the center at approximately 9:45 a.m., and helped over 50 families before we ended the exercise," said Master Sgt. Stephanie Bergstrom, readiness non-commissioned officer for the AFRC and EFACC coordinator. "The fellowship and staff at the BCC were extremely helpful, and we can't thank them enough for letting us use their facility," she said. 

Team Offutt came together with the community to orchestrate the exercise to satisfy base and local emergency response team annual training mandates. 

"Offutt Air Force Base has a requirement to do a certain number of exercises and this fits right in line with our exercise schedule," he said. 

This type of exercise scenario is required prior to every air show. This year the 2009 Offutt Open House, scheduled for August 29 and 30, has various aerial demonstrations, and the base has to demonstrate capability to respond to a major accident, said Major Zimmerman. 

For more information about the 2009 Offutt "Defenders of Freedom" Open House and Air Show, visit http://www.offuttairshow.com