Biomedical technicians, logistics and retail service specialists from across the Navy Medicine enterprise have been at the forefront for the assembly of the U.S. Navy’s first En-Route Care System (ERCS) and Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System (ERSS) designs at Naval Medical Readiness Logistics Command (NMRLC) Williamsburg on board Naval Weapons Station Yorktown-Cheatham Annex, March 3.
Sailors from Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Bethesda, Bremerton, Pensacola, Portsmouth, San Diego, Camp Lejeune and Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) Juliet were on temporary additional duty to perform critical functions including disposition of obsolete material, inventory, maintenance, and reassignment of medical equipment.
“Your job here is so important,” said Rear Adm. Matthew Case, commander, Naval Medical Forces Atlantic (NMFL), and director, Tidewater Market. “We have the equipment ready, on the books and on the shelves in the warehouse to support our operational mission.”
The team’s efforts provided an accelerated production timeline that will play an important role in providing prepositioned medical assets to combatant commanders and theatre commanders around the world in support of service members and allies, and to also provide humanitarian efforts and disaster relief.
“We need to be prepared to move patients with smaller, portable units,” explained NMFL Deputy Commander Capt. Carolyn Rice. “And in having these kits ready, getting them to the places that they need to go, is going to be crucial.”
The team completed maintenance actions and certified for use 233 lifesaving pieces of equipment, dispositioned 30,185 items, with 2,480 items having been redistributed to other platform builds, and 40,209 items have been spot-inventoried.
NFML leadership participated in a question-and-answer session, met with personnel during a warehouse tour, took group photos and presented coins to recognize top performing Sailors.
“What you all have done here is exciting to see,” concluded Case. “I just wanted to come out and say thank you.”
NMRLC, headquartered in Williamsburg, manages the warehouse and production facilities that procures, produces, manages, prepositions, and deploys expeditionary medical systems and EMFs in support of operational plans, exercise support, and real-world operations. These deployable systems provide combatant commanders’ desired capabilities regarding standardized, modular, scalable combat service support and medical/dental capabilities to an advanced-base environment across the entire range of joint military operations.
NMFL, headquartered in Portsmouth, Virginia, delivers operationally focused medical expertise and capabilities to meet Fleet, Marine and Joint Force requirements by providing equipment, sustainment and maintenance of medical forces during combat operations and public health crisis. NMFL provides oversight for 21 NMRTCs, logistics, and public health and dental services throughout the U.S. East Coast, U.S. Gulf Coast, Cuba, Hawaii, Europe, and the Middle East.
Navy Medicine – represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.