By YN2 Nikki Domingo, CBMU 303 Public Affairs
Seabees assigned to CBMU 303 assemble a personnel tent during an integrated expeditionary medical facilities training exercise, Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 11. Photo by CEC Dan Baldwin
Seabees from Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 303 and other personnel from Fleet Hospital Pensacola took part in a two-week exercise at the Naval Expeditionary Medical Training Institute (NEMTI), Camp Pendleton, Calif., to build a 40-bed Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF). This integrated training exercise is held as part of the FY15 Fleet Readiness Training Plan cycle, in support of the Navy Expeditionary Medical Support mission.
The Seabees provided structural assistance, Civil Engineering Support Equipment operations, power generation and distribution, installation of air handling Environmental Control Units and essential public works support.
It was a unique experience to work with Fleet Hospital corpsmen and medical staff from Pensacola. We found them to be motivating which made it easier to complete the mission as one team, said Chief Construction Electrician Dan Baldwin, officer in charge of the EMF Seabee team.
The EMF is a modular field deployable hospital platform consisting of a series of adjoined climate-controlled tent structures with triage, surgical, X-ray, laboratory, intensive care, orthopedics, optometry and dental capabilities, as well as wards.
Construction of this five-acre facility also included troop housing, public works trade and maintenance shops, a dining facility, portable restroom and shower units, and an integration of a Collective Protective (COLPRO) tent lining system designed to provide enhanced insulation, air handling and filtration controls within a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical environment.
Homeported in San Diego, Calif., the mission of CBMU 303 is to provide follow-on base maintenance operations, minor construction and repair of existing advanced base shore facilities and public works support of the Expeditionary Fleet Hospitals.
An expeditionary medical facility is assembled during an integrated expeditionary medical facilities training exercise, Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 11. During the exercise, Seabees from CBMU 303 built an expeditionary hospital platform consisting of a series of adjoined climate-controlled tent structures with triage, surgical, X-ray, laboratory, intensive care, orthopedics, optometry and dental capabilities, as well as wards. Photo by CEC Dan Baldwin