Story by Tech. Sgt. Amy Lovgren 133rd Airlift Wing
(ST Paul, MN) — Oct. 15th, 2023 — U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 133rd Medical Group will host a training exercise with The Kid Experts® from Children’s Minnesota on Sunday, October 15 at 1:00 p.m. This biennial training exercise, created to simulate real-world emergencies, was last held in October 2021.
“The 133rd Medical Group has been teaming up with Children’s Minnesota for pediatric training over the last eight years,” said U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Paige Todd, 133rd Medical Group. “This training has brought our service members not only valuable hands-on training, but also a unique opportunity to work with children in traumatic situations. This has helped our members to learn how to navigate building trust with children in tough situations, and to apply our medical skills to this patient population. This has also been beneficial for the team at Children’s Minnesota as they have learned the different ways we practice medicine in a field environment.”
The training will start with classroom instruction and progress to a mass casualty exercise. Airmen will apply what they learned in the classroom to each training scenario, assessing and treating children with injuries. Although children are not the typical patient age group Airmen care for, the mission requires that they prepare for it anyway. Maj. Katie Lunning is proof of that.
On August 26, 2021, Lunning was caring for critical patients on a medical evacuation flight from Kabul to Germany. An adult ICU nurse, she had never provided critical care to a pediatric patient.
Her most critical patient on that evacuation flight? An 18-month-old boy.
With no pediatric supplies and his life in her hands, she managed to gain intravenous access, stabilizing him until they reached the hospital in Germany.
As an Air National Guard unit, the likelihood of responding to a domestic emergency is high. This training ensures that the first time an Airman encounters a pediatric patient is not in a real-world response.
“As the kid experts in the region, Children’s Minnesota understands the urgent and unique care needs pediatric trauma patients require,” said Dr. Samreen Vora, medical director of the Children’s Minnesota simulation program. “Simulation training with the 133rd Medical Group gives our providers the opportunity to help ensure the servicemembers are ready for the real-world scenarios they may encounter while caring for our communities’ children in their time of need.”
About the Minnesota National Guard
Established in 1856 and headquartered in St. Paul, the Minnesota National Guard has more than 13,000 Soldiers and Airmen who serve in 58 communities across the state. The Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen of the Minnesota National Guard are ‘Always Ready’ to fight the nation’s wars, protect the country, respond to state emergencies, and contribute to local communities. For more information about the Minnesota National Guard, visit https://MinnesotaNationalGuard.ng.mil.
About Children’s Minnesota
Children’s Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children’s Minnesota is one system serving kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, nine primary care clinics, multiple specialty clinics, and seven rehabilitation sites. As The Kids Experts® in our region, Children’s Minnesota is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children’s hospital.
