Currently deployed to Iceland, the Navy Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System (ERSS) Team 9 has joined forces with the Marine Corps Shock Trauma Team (STT) from Combat Logistics Battalion 8 (CLB 8) with the overall goal to test concepts of expeditionary medical care in support of GIUK gap operations. The collaboration is part of a larger joint and combined operation involving Navy, Marine Corps and NATO partners, and supports the NAVEUR line of effort to improve capabilities of our allies and strengthen partnerships.
The joining of the USN and USMC medical teams enhances the Role 1 damage control resuscitation (DCR) capability and adds the damage control surgery (DCS) Role 2 capability provided by the Navy ERSS. This is the first time the STT and ERSS have combined efforts where the goal is to assess how these two specialized units can effectively support a much larger combined arms exercise.
“The exercise, from a medical standpoint, allows us to test multiple experimental pieces within Navy and Marine Corps medicine, including the STT, and the en route care aspect of our organic unit, as well as the expeditionary resuscitative surgical system from the Navy,” said Lt. Cmdr. Clyde Martin, medical officer in charge of CLB 8. “As far as I am aware, an STT and an ERSS have never been paired together in an operation or in a deployment.”
NV24 emphasizes the importance of working with host nations to ensure effective coordination between military and civilian medical resources. An Icelandic medical team from Iceland’s Landspitali University Hospital participated in a discussion with U.S. forces to better understand each other’s capabilities and how they can be integrated.
“Our ability to be interoperable with both our NATO allies, both military and civilian, is critical, because we don't have enough folks to be everywhere all the time, all at once,” said Cmdr. John Maddox, team lead of ERSS Team 9. “We really have to develop the relationships, understand the nuances of how we each perform our medical capabilities, and by doing that...it really is a much larger deterrence, because it's not just what we can do, it's what we can do as a team with our partners that makes us very strong and very, very powerful.”
A unique feature of Northern Viking 24 is its focus on en route care, a component often overlooked in other exercises. The ability to provide continuous care during patient transport, whether by fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, or improvised ground vehicles, is being rigorously tested. This aspect of the exercise simulates real-world scenarios where patients need to be evacuated to higher levels of care, and the en route care team ensures they receive the necessary medical attention throughout the journey.
“So, [when] patients come into the to the STT. They get initially resuscitated. It is determined that they need to flow on to higher levels of care, and that often is where the exercise will ENDEX or stop,” said Martin. “I think that's one of the most unique pieces of the exercise, that's not a muscle that often gets flexed in training, but it is a crucial portion of the flow of care.”
As the exercise continues, lessons learned from these medical innovations and collaborative efforts are expected to enhance NATO’s overall medical readiness and interoperability, providing a robust deterrent against potential threats in the region.
The Navy Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System is a specialized Role 2 Light Maneuver unit designed to provide critical damage control resuscitation and surgical capabilities. Its purpose is to deliver essential medical support in forward-deployed situations across various environments, including conveyances of opportunity, shelters of opportunity, submarines, and most types of ships. The ERSS's capabilities are currently undergoing rigorous testing and evaluation during the Northern Viking Exercise 2024 to ensure operational readiness in diverse scenarios.
Northern Viking is a biennial exercise that has been held since 1982 and is based on the provisions of the 1951 Defense Agreement between Iceland and the United States.
Participating at NV24 are Denmark, France, Iceland, Norway, Poland, and the United States as well as components of Standing NATO Maritime Group One and Allied Maritime Command.
U.S. European Command directed and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-led, NV24 is a U.S. Sixth Fleet planned and executed Joint and Coalition live exercise. U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts a full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with Allies, in order to advance security and stability in Europe and Africa.