Hawaii Army National Guard combat medics trained alongside Malaysian amy medical personnel to practice first responder casualty care as part of Exercise Keris Aman 2015 at the Segenting Camp, here Aug. 12.

Keris Aman is the largest multinational peacekeeping training event this year and is co-hosted by the Malaysian Armed Forces and U.S. Pacific Command with representatives from 29 nations participating.

Both HIARNG Soldiers and Malaysian armed forces members made an increased effort to better prepare Malaysian Soldiers scheduled to deploy in a United Nations peacekeeping capacity by conducting the training.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Denise Wisniewski, HIARNG, Medical Detachment combat medic, explained why the training was important.

“Today was an add-on to the exercise,” Wisniewski said. “It gives us an opportunity to learn what other countries do. The Malaysian military is very eager to learn and we are eager to see what we can share with them.”

The training included classroom academics and four hands-on stations focused on triage, splinting, hemorrhage control, and opening an airway for a casualty unable to breathe.

Malaysian Army Lt. Col. Dr. Nick Amin, 2nd Medical Battalion commander, said that the training can better equip Malaysian Army soldiers with skills needed to save lives.

“If we are trained to treat a patient in the field, hopefully the patient will have a better chance to survive before reaching the hospital,” Amin said. “This training is very important because we are preparing our staff, our team, for a non-war operation. A non-war operation is humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. There are a lot of things we need to learn and prepare for medically for that.”

Not only did the training provide familiarization and training for medical personnel preparing to deploy but it also promotes building relationships between partner nations.

“I was fortunate enough to have participated in the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) Exercise last year in Indonesia, and we build a lot of good relationships,” Wisniewski said. “When we came to Malaysia this year we saw a lot of familiar faces and they remembered us. We hope our training is going to help them.”

Wisniewski feels a sense of accomplishment and pride when involved in multinational exercises like Keris Aman.

“I’m so proud to be one of the participants in this GPOI exercise,” Wisniewski said. “I think we’ve learned a lot of things by sharing our experience, knowledge and skills.”

The U.S. Dept. of State sponsored GPOI program assists partner nations with skills, facilities and equipment to increase indigenous peacekeeping capability and capacity.

Being a major troop contributing country, Malaysia and the Malaysian Armed Forces have extensive knowledge and experience in peacekeeping operations. Hosting this type of training event in Malaysia will not only enhance Malaysia’s peacekeeping capabilities but will also help other participating nations benefit from the broad range of experience and knowledge represented.