Army Reserve physicians attend the Critical Care Skills Procedure Anatomy Program

Story by Lt. Col. Kristin Porter

807th Theater Medical Command

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – U.S. Army Reserve physicians from the 807th Theater Medical Command attended the Critical Care Skills Procedure Anatomy Program at the Centre of Emergency Health Sciences in Bulverde, Texas, on Jan. 11, 2025.

Military physicians typically train with mannequins that simulate advanced battlefield casualties, but this program focuses on orthopedics, emergency medicine, general surgery, and trauma surgery with human specimens.

“Cadaver training offers realistic tissue handling, anatomic variation with real-world challenges, hemodynamic and structural realism with layered anatomy, and haptic, or tactile sensation, feedback,” said Col. Oliver Lau, 807th Theater Medical Command Surgeon.

The Centre of Emergency Health Sciences hosts military and civilian training audiences from across the world and designs training opportunities based on the needs of the training audience. The 11 physicians selected to attend the one-day training, while specialized in general, trauma and thoracic surgery; emergency medicine; and family medicine, focused on the military’s Individual Critical Task Lists (ICTLs) for emergency medicine surgery.

“We covered everything that relates to bleeding, all the skills from fundamental bleeding down to REBOA (Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta) and even opening the chest, a modified clam, and cross clamping the aorta. We covered everything airway, from positioning through BLS (Basic Life Support) airway support, through advanced airway support, or through surgical airway support. We did everything that relates to thoracic injuries…everything from needle anterior and lateral decompressions to thoracostomies to chest tube thoracostomies. We opened the chest earlier so we could see everything inside, and we did everything vascular, meaning everything IO (interosseous), everything IV (intravenous), including cut downs and everything central line, femoral, subclavian, and IJ (internal jugular), and they all got a chance to do all of that,” explained Scott Bolleter, Director and Chair of the Centre of Emergency Health Sciences.

The Center for Emergency Health Sciences was developed 14 years ago as an alternative to medical schools for military and civilian medical providers to conduct additional and refresher training.

“The reason [providers] come here is because specific specimen who consented to do this work, which are fresh specimen, which are untouched, allow them to, in an unfettered way, do all of the procedures they might do in their work,” said Bolleter.

Recognizing the opportunity presented to their physicians, the 807th TMC hopes to build a partnership with the Centre and send physicians and mid-level providers in rotations to the Critical Care Skills Procedure Anatomy Program quarterly.

“Physicians like myself practiced and perfected procedures that we do not routinely perform in regular clinical settings but would be lifesaving in emergencies,” said Lau.