Date: Fri 21-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Capt-James-Perkins-Army

Full Text:

Caring For Casualties In The World's Trouble Spots

(with cuts)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

From the strife in Bosnia to hurricane-ravaged countries in Central America,

Capt James G. Perkins had a close-up view of the world's trouble spots during

his command of the US Army's only airborne medical battalion.

For the past 20 months, the 1983 graduate of Newtown High School commanded

Bravo Company, 261st Area Support Medical Battalion, part of the XVIII

Airborne Corps stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The company has 75

paratrooper medics who are expected to be able to drop into any trouble spot

in the world in 18 hours or less.

"During my 20 months of command, the company deployed to Bosnia-Herzegoniva

for one year as part of the peace-keeping operation," Capt Perkins said.

"Bravo Company provided medical treatment and evacuation to hundreds of United

Nations soldiers."

The deployment took him to an unfamiliar part of the world.

"That really was an education in itself," he said. "I was in Croatia and

Serbia, experiencing the culture there and working closely with multinational

forces, particularly Norwegians, Swedes and Finns."

The grandson of Win and Gertrude Ballard of Newtown, Capt Perkins spent five

years in the military after graduating from high school. Completing his term

of duty, he entered Providence College in Rhode Island where he was a

Distinguished Military Graduate with a bachelor's degree in sociology, and was

commissioned a second lieutenant. He earned a master's degree in human

resources management from Webster University in St Louis, Missouri, and has

been stationed at Fort Bragg for the past seven years.

An article written by Capt Perkins about the medical operations in Bosnia was

published in the April-June edition of the Army Medical Journal. In the

article, "Experiences of a Medical Company Commander in Bosnia," Capt Perkins

explained that the company's two main missions were to provide a

quick-response medical team that could react to a mass casualty (MASCAL)

situation and to organize a ground treatment team to provide medical

assistance at any base camp when given the order to execute a contingency plan

(CONPLAN).

"We are used to jumping into areas, not driving," he said. "It was new to us

because in this situation we didn't have aircraft."

One of the first things Capt Perkins discovered was that the Norwegian

contingent in Bosnia could react to medical emergencies within minutes but it

took the Americans 15 to 20 minutes to implement their intensive pre-convoy

checklist.

"This quick reaction time (by the Norwegians) came with the availability of

the SISU, a heavily armored ambulance that can maneuver into a hostile

situation without an escort," Capt Perkins explained. "Furthermore, Norwegian

policy allowed for a one-vehicle convoy. The US Army M997 field ambulance,

being a light-skinned vehicle, required an escort to transition into or near a

conflict."

The company also faced the challenge of delivering medical support to other

base camps during the Bosnian winter when snow clogged the narrow, winding

roads that run through mountainous passages.

"Bosnian roads are infiltrated with pedestrian and horse-drawn cart traffic,

neither of which obey traffic laws," Capt Perkins said. "During the winter

months, roads often become impassable as a result of snow and ice."

Capt Perkins' company quickly went to work to solve these problems.

Three Medical Plans

"Through experience as well as trial and error, we created three medical

`packages' that would decrease our emergency response time while increasing

our overall medical capabilities," Capt Perkins said. "(These are) a

four-vehicle MASCAL medical response package; a four-vehicle contingency

medical package for use in CONPLANs, and a slingload team capable of

delivering a Level I treatment via UH-60 (Black Hawk helicopters) with OH-58

escorts to base camps in the theater within one hour."

Each of these packages included specific medical response personnel.

"Most importantly, the medical provider, physician or physician assistant

would carry a medical bag called the `trauma ruck,'" Capt Perkins said. "This

rucksack, capable of use by paratroopers in airborne operations, contains

equipment that dramatically increases the level of medical care: minor

surgical sets, cut-down trays, chest tube packages, and other stabilizing

equipment."

The company developed a MASCAL response plan and standard operating procedures

for reacting to such situations as motor vehicle accidents, bomb explosions,

or any other instances in which numerous casualties would be in need of

evacuation to a medical facility.

"On the scene of the MASCAL each member of the response team has a certain

responsibility," Capt Perkins said. "The site manager is responsible for the

command, control and security of the area and also must coordinate calling in

a nine-line medical evacuation request and continuously send updates to the

next level of health care. The physician on-scene is responsible for the

initial triaging and the performing of life support on urgent casualties. The

non-commissioned officer in charge is responsible for managing medical assets

and overall coordination of medical care. The medics are responsible for

treating and evacuating casualties."

The company developed a CONPLAN package in which a jump treatment team would

parachute in to reinforce and supplement other aid stations around Bosnia.

Both the CONPLAN and MASCAL plans use air and field ambulances to evacuate the

wounded.

The slingload treatment team, developed to cope with the problem of winter

road conditions, was created to be able to deliver medical help to all base

camps within an hour.

"The treatment team equipment is packed into a 10,000-pound cargo net," Capt

Perkins explained. "The team loads the UH-60, then flies to the pick-up zone

where a trained air assault team provided by the medical company carries out

the hook-up" of the equipment and flies it and the team to the base camp that

requested help.

That helicopter then returns to the pick-up zone where cables are attached to

an M998 command vehicle and it is transported by the helicopter to the base

camp.

"Whenever possible, these two movements are conducted simultaneously by

multiple aircraft," Capt Perkins said.

To reduce the time needed to respond to an emergency, the company implemented

a daily morning convoy brief that detailed how to react to enemy fire,

provided information about important radio frequencies, and the location of

other base camps. The convoy brief was followed by an intelligence summary of

current political and military events. Vehicles and personnel also were

inspected each morning to be sure they had all equipment necessary for a

72-hour deployment to the field.

Capt Perkins said that creating the three unique medical packages was an

example of how to provide world-class medical support despite the limitations

and restrictions found at the locale of the emergency.

"Discovering alternative methods of accomplishing missions exponentially

increased the capability of our medical task force as well as the overall

capability of all American forces in Bosnia," he said. "There were definitely

a lot of lessons learned."

A New Assignment

The deployment in Bosnia was a hardship assignment that separated Capt Perkins

from his wife, Donna, an occupational therapist, for a year. Afterwards, they

met in Hungary for a three-day reunion. When the company returned to Fort

Bragg, the medics were sent to Honduras and Nicaragua for two months as part

of the hurricane disaster relief in Central America.

On April 18 Capt Perkins completed his command of Bravo Company and was

re-assigned as the medical operations officer of the Special Forces Operations

Support Command at Fort Bragg, an interim position that he will hold for

several months.

"I've been selected as one of two officers this fall for the Train With

Industry (TWI) program and will be assigned to Federal Express at their

corporate headquarters in Memphis, Tenn.," he said. "It will give me industry

experience on the management level and a chance to be a civilian for a year."

When he completes this fellowship program, Capt Perkins, 35, will take over

the medical operations section of the 16th Medical Logistics Battalion in

South Korea.

Capt Perkins' military education included Army Medical Department Officer

Basic, Advanced and Medical Logistic School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas;

Combined Armed Services School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Airborne and Ranger

School, Fort Benning, Georgia; Jumpmaster School, Fort Bragg; and Jungle

Warfare School, Panama.

During his 15 years of service Capt Perkins has been awarded the Armed Forces

Expeditionary Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army

Achievement Medal, NATO Metal, Armed Forces Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal,

Good Conduct Medal, Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist Wings, and the Expert Field

Medical Badge.

He is the son of former Newtown residents Pat Malouff, who lives in South

Carolina, and Rudy Perkins of Tampa, Fla.