VHA Office of Emergency Management

Litter bearers take simulated patients from a U.S. Air Force HC-130J cargo aircraft into a Federal Coordinating Center patient reception area during Exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2025 July 30 at the Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico. FCCs are intended for Federal patient movement and reception operations—simulating the transfer of patients from initial care to definitive treatment facilities, including VA, military, and civilian hospitals. (Photo by Kurt M. Rauschenberg, Veterans Health Administration Office of Emergency Management)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Timeliness, coordination, and communication all came together as Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) emergency managers and medical centers around the nation participated in the annual Ultimate Caduceus exercise July 21 to Aug 2. The multistate exercise, hosted by U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), tests how the Department of Defense and its interagency and industry partners coordinate military patient movement from overseas to hospitals within the United States.

For the VA, the exercise began with emergency managers assigned to the Veterans Health Administration’s Office of Emergency Management deploying to USTRANSCOM’s Patient Movement Coordination Cell (PMCC) in St. Louis, Missouri to initiate response efforts at VA medical centers for the reception of simulated wounded service members from an overseas crisis. From the PMCC, VA FCCs in Boise, Detroit, Little Rock, Portland, Reno, and Tampa were notionally activated to test readiness levels for immediate patient tracking and reception capabilities. However, one of the VA’s FCCs went the extra mile to exercise their capabilities in real time.

The Albuquerque FCC

On the morning of July 30, the New Mexico VA Health Care System and about a dozen partner agencies consisting of more than a hundred personnel, such as medics from the 377th Medical Group out of Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico Region 4 Healthcare Coalition, Albuquerque Fire Rescue and Albuquerque Ambulance System, came together at the Albuquerque International Sunport to transform a snow barn into a patient reception area. As a U.S. Air Force HC-130J cargo aircraft carrying simulated injured troops arrived from overseas, Federal and local partners went to work with one common goal—save lives.

“The New Mexico VA Health Care System was eager to get involved and train alongside our DoD and local partners throughout Albuquerque who play a vital role in this mission,” said Benton Weintraub, NMHCS executive director. “The time, attention and resources we put into UC25 makes us that much more prepared and ready to respond when needed at the VA’s Albuquerque FCC.”

Dozens of simulated patients hooked up to medical equipment were off-loaded from the aircraft on stretchers and quickly taken into the reception area to track and assess for follow-on definitive care. Some patients were immediately placed in ambulances and taken to local hospitals. The constant theme throughout was military and civilian uniforms side-by-side to carry out their critical mission.

Enduring Partnerships

The VA and DoD’s partnerships in exercising FCCs are routine, occurring more than a dozen times each year. FCCs are a primary function of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) and can be applied to large-scale combat operations and other incidents, such as natural disasters. Although Veterans are always the highest priority, the VA plays a vital role in supporting public health and medical services to the general public during emergencies and disasters.

For UC25, the VA used the Joint Patient Assessment and Tracking System, a method for tracking all federal patient movement during a disaster, including those who are being moved or evacuated, are admitted to federally-supported shelters, or are receiving definitive care at local NDMS facilities.

“The idea is primarily patient tracking—getting them in and then out to hospitals. This being a LSCO exercise with active-duty military, it changes the process for our usual tracking, so we went through various scenarios to test our interoperability for tracking military patients,” said Dennis Pollard, VHA area emergency manager.

Emergency Managers like Pollard have worked alongside Federal, state, and local partners for decades, building and sustaining relationships in communities all over the country.

UC25 involved more than 1,000 military and civilian personnel, including teams from 21 civilian hospitals and representatives from the VA, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Defense Health Agency. This year’s activities included both virtual and in-person training around in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Honolulu, Hawaii, Sacramento, California, Travis Air Force Base, California and Scott Air Force Base, Illinois

“Ultimate Caduceus underscores our commitment to delivering world-class care and rapid evacuation for our military,” said Air Force Col. Christopher Backus, USTRANSCOM command surgeon. “With our government and civilian partners, we stand ready to bring our warfighters home, no matter where they are.”