Alamo Wing medics continue training days after field exercise Published March 8, 2016 By Tech. Sgt. Carlos J. Trevino 433 Airlift Wing JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- It was no rest for the weary as the medics of the "Alamo Wing" continued with three more days of hands-on training following a weeklong exercise called "Alamo Shield" at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis Texas. The nurses and medics of the 433rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron returned four days later here on Mar. 4 during the Wing's Super Unit Training Assembly to practice ventilating, decompressing and suturing. The training curriculum taught, was by written by Lt. Col. Alex Schwan, an officer with the 433rd AES, involved close to 100 Airmen saved the squadron time and tax payers dollars. "We are able to do Readiness Skills Verification and clinical training for the squadron and hopefully for all the medics in the squadron. Today we are using about $150,000 worth of equipment from the Ari Force Reserve Command to cover all the readiness and training requirements for techs and nurses," he said. "We did this concurrently with the exercise we had (last week) Alamo Shield so we could get this training knocked out in four and half days. It is a huge money saver. We have other squadrons that want to send people here to train if they have shortfalls because we have the equipment and the instructors, "said Schwan. The most hands-on station involved medics stitching pig's skin together. Medics were each given a pig's foot that had been preserved in formaldehyde to practice a basic suturing technique. "This is the closest thing we can use to simulate a human without using a human," said Master Sgt. Tito Carrillo, a medical technician with the 433rd AES. "The texture of the pig's feet is the closest thing we can use to replicate a human dermis. Suturing is just one skill that we are able to perform." There are different suturing techniques Carrillo noted. "We are working with a simple interrupted suture. The more you do this, the easier it is over time." Learning how to stitch a wound it is part of RSVT, all medics receive this training, because we have to maintain our skills," he said. "This is one of our lessons to keep our skills sharp and good to go, so when we have real patients, whom we deal with them. Our medics don't have specialties, so we have to know a little bit of everything to help save that patient," Carrillo said. "Normally, we had to send people out (off-station) to get this training, now we are independent, because we have nurses and techs, who have a continuing education unit package attached to this training, so they are able to maintain their certifications and their licenses," Schwan said. "The hands-on training is beneficial; you actually get hands on training with your equipment. When you do flight training, it is all very compacted and has to be accomplished in an allotted time. This UTA gave us over three days to practice with the equipment, to actually get hands on with everything, and to take that time with the instructors so you can learn that every aspect training, that we may have not been able to get before," said Judiscak, an emergency room technician.