Mass casualty events don’t happen often on Oahu military bases. But with the risk inherent in combat training, they do occur.

In May 2015 two Marines died and nearly 20 others were injured when their MV-22 Osprey, clogged with dust from severe brownout conditions, fell from the sky and crashed at Bellows.

An investigation concluded the unit did not adequately plan for the possibility of a mass-casualty event and that “improper” medevac planning led to the arrival of first responders at locked gates or in the wrong area. Evacuation was delayed, and some casualties were transported via civilian vehicles rather than ambulances.

Unrelated to that event, but with an eye toward improving preparedness, the Army on Friday responded to a simulated crash and rollover into a ravine of a troop truck with 10 soldiers on Schofield Barracks’ East Range.

The exercise included the participation of Honolulu Emergency Medical Services with an ambulance, and a practice flight by a Black Hawk medevac helicopter to the Queen’s Medical Center with two of the “injured” soldiers aboard.

“Compared to what we’re used to in the civilian world, they (the Army) have a unique communication and command structure. And that doesn’t necessarily always meld with our normal day-to-day operations very well,” said city EMS Assistant Chief of Operations Christopher Sloman. “So doing exercises like this helps identify those kinks in the system so on both ends we can work those out.”

Soldiers with the Lightning Academy at the Jungle Operations Training Center provided the victims and rescuers with Hollywood-like simulated wounds and blood, adding to the realism.

In the exercise on a dirt hillside road on the East Range, six soldiers were ambulatory, and four others had to be hauled up a ravine with ropes. Sgt. Evan Mead had a serious abdominal injury that was being wrapped with gauze and a Spandex-type bandage by Sgt. Dartagnan Roach.

“Right now what we’re doing is self-aid (for the ambulatory),” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Wilson.

Mead was placed on a stretcher and loaded onto a truck.

“You ain’t going to die today,” another soldier told him.

The soldiers also set up rope pulleys to pull several of the most seriously hurt personnel up the fairly steep ravine using plastic litters that were secured around them.

Between five and six soldiers frantically pulled on the rope atop the hill, working up a serious sweat.

“It’s going take every able-bodied who’s not injured to pull this!” shouted Staff Sgt. Shaun Thompson as the rescue started. Every 3 feet of draw on the simple pulley resulted in a single foot of movement up the hill by the plastic litter.

“This is actually part of the Jungle Operations Training Course, because jungle training out here in the Pacific is so tough,” said Staff Sgt. Anuj Kainth, one of those doing the pulling. “As you can see, it’s very steep, very dense jungle terrain. You can’t get in and out without ropes. If somebody were to fall down one of these gulches, this is one of the only ways you would be able to get them out, other than bringing in a helicopter and a hoist.”

An EMS ambulance also was brought out to the accident site to practice the transfer of patients, and a Black Hawk made the trip from East Range to Queen’s to add to the realism.

Sgt. 1st Class Grover Muirheid, senior jungle instructor with the Lightning Academy, said the exercise was rescue practice for the soldiers and an enhancement of the “handshake” that takes place with civilian first responders.

“On our side of the house, the military side, we already possess a lot of different specialized skills to operate in this environment,” Muirheid said. “So on the extraction side of things, we’re a little bit better at that than most people. But the EMS folks on the other side, our civilian counterparts, their en route treatment and care is a great asset to us.”

The Army also can help with civilian casualties in serious situations.

“We can work hand in hand by training together and making the transition from us to them smooth — and they also call on us to assist them in extractions,” Muirheid said.