Each mobile hospital is comprised of many           interconnected tents and hard shelters.

Since the wars in Afghanistan and

Iraq, numerous reports have documented how advanced medical technologies on the battlefield played a key role in saving the lives of wounded soldiers.

But there was another reason for medical success: well-trained staff members were able to quickly mobilize and establish sophisticated military hospitals, thanks to training provided by ITS Medical Systems (ITSMED), a joint venture between CSC and Advanced Management for Material and Equipment, LLC. For seven years, the U.S. Army Reserve Command has contracted with ITSMED to operate its Regional Training Sites-Medical. Along with management responsibilities, ITSMED conducts training exercises at these sites and also at other locations around the U.S.

A mobile hospital

To deliver first-rate medical services to the battlefield, the military designed a 296-bed mobile hospital that can be established wherever it is needed.

“To run a mobile hospital that can provide care to 296 patients, you need another 600 people to manage a myriad of functions,” says Bob Carpenter, ITSMED’s deputy project manager. “Not only do you have doctors and medical personnel, but you need to provide security, food, water, electric and a range of other services.”

Each 1000-employee hospital is comprised of many tents and hard shelters that are interconnected to create one massive facility. Each includes a plumbing system that dispenses 25,000 gallons of water daily and features that replicate many of the comforts available in a traditional hospital.

“To mobilize, set up and operate a mobile hospital requires that all 600 support personnel, medical and otherwise, are trained to execute their jobs quickly and precisely,” says Carpenter. “ITSMED has collaborated with the military to develop sophisticated training programs to ensure that each individual is prepared to do their job.”

Wide range of medical readiness training

To provide training to 600 support personnel, ITSMED goes to great lengths to simulate a wartime environment.

“We use all necessary training aids, including pyrotechnics, to provide a realistic training environment that mimics a combat support or disaster response situation,” says Delane “Mo” Moeller, ITSMED’s vice president and chief operating officer. “Reservist doctors, nurses, medics and aids work on human patient simulators. These simulators cost up to $250,000 each, and we can program them for just about every ailment, wound or problem imaginable. It’s about as close to war as you can get without the bullets.”

To train in setting up and operating the mobile hospitals, ITSMED conducts sessions at its three training locations in Georgia, Wisconsin and California. During the first three days of annual training, the hospital unit deploys to the field and builds the hospital, executing their plan for the hospital's physical structure and support services such as water, electrical and logistical support.

In the lead-up to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, ITSMED collaborated closely with individual commanders to design training plans specifically tailored to their upcoming challenges.

“We worked with commanders to identify unique scenarios they would be facing and incorporated that into our training strategy,” says Carpenter. “That is how we came to play a key role in preparing for Iraq.”

Protecting against chemical and biological warfare

There was concern during the war in Iraq that Saddam Hussein would unleash chemical or biological weapons on American and British soldiers.

“We conducted specialized biological, chemical and disaster training sessions for medical military personnel before units were deployed,” says Carpenter. “But there was one special training need that required our team to go into Iraq.”

A new filtration technology was designed to protect hospital tents from contaminated air. Key members of the ITSMED team were deployed to Iraq to train military personnel on how to install and use the filtration system.

“Basically, it is an over-pressure system with a chemical-hardened liner that goes inside of the tents to keep contaminated air out,” says Carpenter. “The filtration technology was so new, however, that members of the ITSMED staff were some of the only people who knew how it worked.”

“Fortunately no chemical or biological agents were used in the conflict, but our military hospitals would have been prepared if they had been used,” says Carpenter.

Training for success

In 2000, ITSMED was selected by the American Legion as the National Employer of the Year for medium-sized companies. Since 1996, ITSMED has trained more than 250,000 individuals.

“We’ve provided training to more than 32,000 people a year and continue to improve and refine our training based on feedback from real-life situations,” says Moeller. “Approximately 85 percent of our employees have a military background and are highly qualified professionals in training and leadership development. The effectiveness of our training was demonstrated by the medical readiness successes in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

In addition to providing training support to the U.S. Army Reserves, ITSMED also provides precision training to other components of the military and to local, state and additional federal agencies.

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