Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Col. Joseph DuBose, trauma surgeon and Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS) Baltimore director, and Master Sgt. Shane Patterson, a respiratory therapist and C-STARS Baltimore superintendent, receive a report on an incoming patient at the Trauma Resuscitation Unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, June 13, 2018. The Air Force’s C-STARS Baltimore program partners with the R Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center to ensure medical Airmen train on the latest trauma care techniques. These techniques prepare medical Airmen to treat trauma patients in a deployed setting. (Courtesy photo)Readiness, trauma at heart of C-STARS Baltimore partnership
                        
                        
                        Col. Joseph DuBose, trauma surgeon and Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS) Baltimore director, and Master Sgt. Shane Patterson, a respiratory therapist and C-STARS Baltimore superintendent, receive a report on an incoming patient at the Trauma Resuscitation Unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, June 13, 2018. The Air Force’s C-STARS Baltimore program partners with the R Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center to ensure medical Airmen train on the latest trauma care techniques. These techniques prepare medical Airmen to treat trauma patients in a deployed setting. (Courtesy photo)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Readiness, trauma at heart of C-STARS Baltimore partnershipPublished June 28, 2018
                    
                    By Shireen Bedi
                    
                    
                    Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs
            **FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFNS) --**(This story is part one of two in a series on medics embedded in the Baltimore Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills program.) 
The Air Force Medical Service partners with civilian trauma centers to provide additional opportunities for Air Force medics to maintain readiness and clinical currency on skills needed during deployment.
One such partnership is with the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland, through the Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills (C-STARS). This program embeds Air Force providers in one of the nation’s highest volume trauma centers, training them on vital expeditionary medical skills.
The C-STARS program, which is part of the 711th Human Performance Wing, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, demonstrates how civilian partnerships ensure the readiness of the medical fighting force. This is especially important for medical Airmen stationed at military treatment facilities with few trauma cases.
“By partnering with a hospital that only treats trauma patients, Air Force doctors, nurses, and medical technicians get the necessary exposure to trauma injures,” said Col. Joseph DuBose, C-STARS Baltimore director. “This helps them maintain the clinical currency needed to care for the warfighter downrange.”
C-STARS Baltimore instructors have had a strong relationship with the Baltimore STC for nearly 20 years. Relying on lectures, simulated training, and involvement in care of actual civilian victims of trauma, they train approximately 300 medical Airmen per year and they have trained more than 2,000 Airmen since 2011.
The Air Force instructors that make up the C-STARS Baltimore program bring with them a wealth of experience and a dedication to their fellow medical Airmen, ensuring they are fully capable to support the mission.
DuBose is one of those instructors who started his Air Force career as a general and trauma surgeon. He was interested in vascular surgery and treating the most challenging patients both in the clinic and combat environments.
“I knew these skills would be important if I wanted to continue providing the best care downrange,” said DuBose. “After receiving additional training and being involved in research, I wanted to apply those skills and teach others how to effectively manage the most difficult patients to ensure a good outcome.”
The C-STARS program gives DuBose the ability to keep his skills fresh by applying them daily in the clinic and through training other medical Airmen. Programs like C-STARS Baltimore teach Air Force surgeons the latest trauma care practices to evaluate, resuscitate and treat patients.
“Trauma care is time-critical. What you do in the first several minutes after an injury makes a huge difference for the patient, whether they were injured on the battlefield or in a car accident,” said DuBose. “When we deploy trauma teams downrange, we know they may be called upon to treat some of the sickest and most severely injured patients, and they need the proper trauma care training.”
C-STARS also provides opportunities for medical Airmen to learn from experienced civilian providers, maintain those trauma care skills in the clinic, and bring that training downrange to care for the warfighter.
“C-STARS really comes down to two key words,” said Master Sgt. Sean Patterson, a respiratory therapist and C-STARS Baltimore superintendent. “Trauma and readiness are at the heart of our program and that is ultimately our mission. When we send medical personnel downrange, it is with the idea that they are ready for any casualty they may face.”
“All of our faculty, nurses, technicians, and physicians are fully integrated into the team,” said DuBose. “We participate just as any of our civilian partners do, caring for complex trauma patients. This allows C-STARS trainees to actively participate in trauma care.”
The longstanding relationships between the C-STARS program and Baltimore STC has a significant impact on the instruction and experience of those medical Airmen who come through the program.
“You have to build those relationships between the military and civilian hospitals,” said DuBose. “Our hosts know they can trust our medical teams, and our medics learn from their civilian counterparts.”
DuBose strongly believes that the C-STARS Baltimore program has been successful in equipping these Airmen with the experience and training they require.
“C-STARS Baltimore, to me, has always represented the pinnacle of a place where you can stay clinically active and deploy to support the warfighter,” said DuBose. “Seeing trainees excel in this program makes me feel like I have the best job in the Air Force.”C-STARS 



Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills Program 



partnerships 



Medical readiness 



R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma 



readiness 



trauma care 



expeditionary medicine 



Air Force Medical Service 



AFMS 



trauma 



partnership 



civilian 



trauma center 



R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center 



711th Human Performance Wing 



711th HPW 



training 



medical 



skills 



Wright-Patterson AFB 



Air Force 



AF 



Air Force Base

Related Links
        C-STARS visit highlights trauma training
                                June 19, 2018
                                Assessing and treating critically injured warfighters is no easy task for Air Force medics with two feet firmly planted on the ground. At 35,000 feet in the air, the ability to provide care is even more of a challenge, requiring in-depth, realistic training and readiness for medic team success. The Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil