Reservists, Miami-Dade Rescue conduct mass casualty exercise Published March 18, 2016 By Senior Airman Aja Heiden 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. -- Explosions, mortar fire, enemy forces and rescue missions sum up what happened during a Mass Casualty exercise here March 5. While none of these events actually were real-world, first responders from on and off base came together to test their abilities should any such event happen. "Each entity had their own training objective for the MASCAS," said Chief Master Sgt. David Hanck, (need comma here) the 482nd CES Emergency Management Superintendent. "The goal was to set up real-world, state-side incidents that would stress the air crew and hospitals to test our ability to responds when there are multi-incidents at once." More than 200 personnel participated from the Miami-Dade fire and air rescue, the 331st Army Reserve Minimal Care Detachment, the 482nd Security Forces Squadron, and Fire Rescue and pararescuemen from the 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. In one instance, members of the 482nd SFS assembled a Quick Reaction Force to secure an area and extract casualties. They inserted themselves via a Pave Hawk helicopter and managed to fend off the opposing forces and stabilize casualties. They then called in a rescue team from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to airlift the casualties to Homestead Hospital. "This exercise was designed to test our capabilities and ensure we can accomplish the tasks safely," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Rodriguez, a 482nd Inspection Team member. Elsewhere during the exercise, personnel were dealing with 40 simulated casualties from a building explosion. Victims were triaged at the scene by members from the Army's 331st Minimal Care Detachment but also required medevac to Ryder Trauma Center and Homestead Hospital while others were taken to an improvised medical facility on base. "This type of exercises allows us to work with other DoD and civilian first responders and prepare for the worst," said Hanck. The last scenario involved a car being struck by mortar fire and trapping victims on the inside in a flooded area only accessible via helicopter. Pararescuemen were flown in and used specialized equipment to free the victims from the vehicle by peeling away car doors. Once free, the victims were secured to a litter suspended from a rope attached to the helicopter and lifted to safety. This was a huge success for both the reservists and civilian participants, said Hanck.