USAMRDC Invites Community to Join Capability Days Activities
On the final day of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command's first-ever Capability Days event, the command invited members of the USAMRDC team and their family members to participate in the event's demonstration at the Air Force Medical Readiness Agency grounds on Fort Detrick's Area B.
While the event itself, which took place from April 25-28, was open to VIP personnel within the military medical community, the invitation for a family-style event was extended as an opportunity to observe some of the medical tools, techniques and methods both supported and employed by USAMRDC to care for Warfighters.
"We were delighted to welcome the community out to experience Capability Days," said Brigadier General Tony McQueen, commanding general of USAMRDC and Fort Detrick. "It was a unique opportunity to showcase our capabilities beyond the Department of Defense and share them with our community in an interactive and interesting way."
More than 20 members of USAMRDC's workforce and family members attended the event, which featured abridged versions of the displays from the Capability Days event. The afternoon also included family-friendly activities and at the climax of the event, the landing of a Black Hawk by USAMRDC's U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory; which showed the timing and effort required for MEDEVAC operations.
Additional displays highlighted areas such as vaccines and infectious diseases, physical fitness standards and nutrition, psychological health, resilience and post-traumatic stress disorder research, along with USAMRDC's role in developing wearable sensors and next-generation blood products.
"Capability Days afforded USAMRDC the exceptional opportunity to demonstrate the complexity of Warfighter medical capability and materiel solutions integration to our stakeholders and community in a hands-on environment," said the Military Deputy to USAMRDC's Principal Assistant for Acquisition and narrator for the AFMRA demonstration, Col. John Nuckols.
At the Transport Telemedicine Systems Medical Hands-free Unified Broadcast station, the team provided the children with their own pipe cleaner Soldier to carry along during their tour of the demonstrations. They were able to experience with their "Soldier" how combat medics take care of the Warfighter from accessions to MEDEVAC.
The children had an opportunity to try on the wearable sensors and see how their vital signs were sent to the TTS MEDHUB's Patient Awareness Support System. The children also received bubbles to show them how their oxygen saturation was effected by deep breathing techniques.
At the second TTS MEDHUB station, the team handed out craft "googly eyes" for the children to put on their "Soldiers" to represent all the capabilities they saw and experienced on the tour. As the attendees waited for the helicopter to arrive, the children discussed their knowledge of helicopters and shared about what they wanted to be when they grew up.
"As a mom, it was a great sight to see the children's reactions to the demonstrations and the arrival of the helicopter. It was a wonderful display of why we do what we do for our Warfighters and their families," said Aimee Dacanay, a product manager with USAMRDC's U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Acquisition and a presenter at Capability Days. "I have been with USAMMDA since 2020 and continue to be inspired by the work we do each day. It was an honor to be a part of this event and to share it with our team and their families."
USAMRDC looks forward to providing additional opportunities to showcase its capabilities and enduring commitment to the surrounding community in the future.