10th Field Hospital (United States)
The 10th Field Hospital is a Field Hospital of the United States Army first constituted on 23 June 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 10th Field Hospital.
Lineage
- Constituted 23 June 1942 in the Regular Army as 10th Field Hospital
- Activated on 6 July 1942 at Camp Bowie, Texas
- Inactivated on 4 November 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts.
- Reactivated on 25 August 1949 in Germany before being allotted on 5 May 1951 to the Regular Army.
- Reorganized and redesignated on 15 June 1962 as the 10th Evacuation Hospital
- Inactivated on 16 August 1965 in Germany.
- Reactivated on 12 July 1967 at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.
- Reorganized and redesignated on 21 March 1973 as the 10th Combat Support Hospital
- Reorganized and redesignated on 16 August 1983 as the 10th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
- Reorganized and redesignated on 16 December 1992 as the 10th Combat Support Hospital.
- Reorganized and redesignated on 16 June 2017 as the 10th Field Hospital
Mission
History
[European [Theater of Operations, United States Army|World War II]] and Postwar Service
The 10th Field Hospital provided medical support in Tunisia, Italy, France, and Germany. It was awarded two Arrowhead Devices for participation in theses campaigns. Additionally, the unit was also awarded the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation on April 16, 1990, for services in the European Theater during 1944.Although deactivated after returning to the US following the defeat of the Axis Powers, the 10th Field Hospital was reactivated in the regular Army on August 5, 1949, then redesignated as the 10th Evacuation Hospital June 15, 1962. It resumed its medical support and training mission in Germany, until its deactivation August 16, 1965.
The 10th Evacuation Hospital was reactivated July 12, 1967, at Fort Meade, Maryland. It was reorganized and redesignated as a Combat Support Hospital on March 21, 1973.
Reorganization as a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
On August 16, 1983 the unit was redesignated as the 10th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. On August 5, 1987, the Department of the Army directed a realignment of the 10th MASH with the 4th Infantry Division, with an effective date of August 16, 1988. The 10th MASH was under the 43rd Support Group as a battalion organization with the 517th Medical Company, 571st Medical Detachment, 223rd Medical Detachment and 40th Dental Company as subordinate units.On Jan. 3, 1991, the 10th MASH deployed to Saudi Arabia with the 44th Medical Brigade, 1st Medical Group in support of Operation Desert Storm until July 1991.
Second Reorganization as a Combat Support Hospital
The Department of the Army redesignated the 10th MASH as the 10th Combat Support Hospital Dec. 16, 1992. The 10th CSH deployed to Bosnia and Hungary in support of Operation Joint Forge from March 12 to Sept. 27, 1999.The 10th CSH was a modular-designed facility, which consisted of a HUB and HUS. The unit had 8 wards providing intensive nursing care for up to 96 patients, 7 wards providing intermediate nursing care for up to 140 patients, one ward providing neuropsychiatric care for up to 20 patients. Surgical capacity was based on 8 operating room tables for a surgical capacity of 144 operating room table hours per day. The unit could be further augmented with specialty surgical/medical teams to increase its capabilities.
The hospital was equipped with Deployable Medical System equipment, which could be set up in various configurations. The major components of a combat support hospital were the expandable tactical shelters, TEMPER Tents, and the military vans. The expandable tactical shelter was a rigid paneled metal unit that could be unfolded to become an enclosed air conditioned shelter for use as an operating room, central material services, pharmacy, laboratory, blood bank, radiology, or biomedical maintenance. The TEMPER tent featured an aluminum frame and fabric outer skin, which could be quickly assembled and disassembled without, tools. The standard ward was 20 feet by 64 feet, consisting of 8 8-by-20 foot TEMPER sections. The MILVAN was a rigid paneled metal storage and transportation container, which was allocated to the functional sections of the hospital. When operational, the combat support hospital could provide climate and environmental control equivalent to that found in any fixed hospital.
In January 2004, the 10th CSH became the first hospital to complete the Medical Re-engineering Initiative conversion. With the conversion, the 10th CSH was a more mobile 84-bed hospital with an additional 164 beds in storage, if ever needed. The combat support hospital was designed to provide level III care to deployed soldiers during wartime operations or humanitarian missions. The hospital facility was the Deployable Medical System, which consisted of TEMPER tents and ISO shelters. It was composed of an emergency medical treatment section with a dispensary, one operating room, 2 intensive care units each composed of 12 beds, 3 intermediate care wards each composed of 20 beds, one central materiel services section, laboratory with limited testing capabilities, blood bank, radiology with portable x-ray capability and digital processing, and a pharmacy. Experiences of the 10th Field Hospital had led it to request an additional OR iso-shelter to increase its surgical capabilities. Though the 10th CSH was an echelon-above-division asset, and therefore required support, with the MRI conversion it was more self-sufficient than before.
Service in Iraq">Iraq War">Service in Iraq
The 10th CSH deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2005-2007. While conducting split-based operations in Tallil and Baghdad, Medical Task Force 10 provided unmatched Level III combat health support with a 94-percent survivability rate. The unit returned to Fort Carson from Iraq Oct. 14, 2006, and received an additional Meritorious Unit Commendation.The 10th CSH deployed as Medical Task Force 10 to Operation Iraqi Freedom 08-10, and once again provided unmatched Level III combat health support with split-based operations in Baghdad at Ibn Sina Hospital then moving to Camp Sather, Tallil, Al Kut, Al Amarah, Bucca, and even supporting UK Forces in Basrah. The unit achieved a 98-percent survivability rate, the highest survivability rate in the history of American warfare.
The staff of the hospital consisted of two personnel components: permanently assigned and professional fillers or PROFIS. Under the FY07 MTOE, which appeared on 16 March 2007, the 10th Combat Support Hospital had 482 required positions, which consisted of 237 permanently assigned and 245 PROFIS. With the MRI conversion, this represented a shift with the number of permanently assigned personnel decreasing and the number of PROFIS increasing by approximately 40 each respectively. The backbone of a fully operational and functional hospital was the competent staff found under the canvas. An important part of that competent team was the PROFIS staff, which made up over half of the total staff and included the majority of the clinical professionals.
In an ideal world, the 10th Field Hospital would have had all personnel assigned and training on a daily basis in anticipation for worldwide deployments. Unfortunately, that arrangement would become a detriment to the clinical skills of the medical, nursing, and specialty staff. Therefore, a system was required whereby the majority of time could be spent in a real clinical environment, where skills could be developed and maintained. That system, the PROFIS program, allowed clinical staff to maintain clinical proficiency while developing unit relationships and training for deployment with their designated PROFIS unit. Likened to a "break glass when needed" piece of equipment, PROFIS were assigned to the 10th Field Hospital on paper and were requested when the need arose for professionals to round out the staffing requirements for a particular mission.