PCU John F. Kennedy Medical Team Builds Foundational Standards through Trauma Drills

In the bustling, industrial environment of a shipyard, danger can strike without warning. For the Sailors assigned to Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), preparing for the unexpected is not just a requirement, but the standard maintained through consistent training.

To ensure the crew is ready to respond to medical emergencies, the ship’s Medical Training Team (MTT) conducts routine "flopper drills" across the ship--- scenarios where a MTT member “flops” a manikin on the deck for a Sailor to find and take first-responder action. These unexpected scenarios test the crew’s ability to provide immediate, life-saving care under pressure.

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Spencer Norman, a member of the MTT, said the drills evaluate how the crew performs in trauma-based situations and help establish a baseline of medical readiness.

"We have what we call a trusted agent, someone who we identify as the [simulated] casualty, and we tell them what wound they are going to present," Norman said. "They’ll come in with a simulated head laceration, a broken arm or massive hemorrhaging, for example, and they’ll fall on the ground. The people around are expected to respond and save that person’s life."

Conducting the stand-alone drills weekly, as well as during all-hands general quarters drills, ensures that medical response protocols become muscle memory. In a shipyard environment filled with heavy machinery and overhead hazards, this level of strict preparedness is critical to the crew’s safety.

"This is an industrial environment with a lot of stuff moving around," Norman said. "We have forklifts going through the hangar bay, and those forks can injury someone if they are not careful and cause traumatic injury."
During a flopper drill, once the immediate threat to life is mitigated and the patient is stabilized, Norman advises responders to slow down and adhere to their training checklist to avoid critical errors.

"The worst thing you can do is panic," Norman said. "People try to rush through and they miss things. I always tell people that once they have stabilized a patient and moved them out of that dangerous environment, take a breath. Take a breath, breathe, and work through it."

Lt. Cmdr. Stacy Bourne, the ship’s nurse, noted that these foundational drills are vital for gauging the effectiveness of the crew's Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Tier 1 qualifications.

"This is where we are building our foundation for how the ship is going to remain and train for its life cycle," Bourne said. "How we start that foundation now will carry over into how it is on deployments, maintenance periods and everything else moving forward."

Both Norman and Bourne urge the crew to continuously practice their skills and ask questions. With training kits available in the medical department, maintaining the standard is a shared responsibility across the deck plates.
"Practice, practice, practice," Norman said. "It’s a skill that can go away if you don’t use it."

Norman reminds JFK Sailors that if you see a casualty to always call Damage Control Central at 2900 and to expect flopper drills during medical training team environments.