For Womack officials, treating Bragg trauma is personal

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Gov. Roy Cooper ordered US and North Carolina flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the soldier killed Thursday during a training exercise at Fort Bragg.

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Sgt. Alexander Dalida, 32, died and seven others were injured. Dalida, a Massachusetts native, was a husband, and father of a 1-year-old baby.

Four people are still recovering at Womack Army Medical Center on Friday evening. According to a USASOC spokesman, the demolitions exercise that happened at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School is the first incident involving injury in 20 years. He told ABC11 that training accidents are rare, but when they happen it's very serious.

Womack Army Medical Center trauma professionals said they train hard and often to handle emergency situations like the training exercise gone awry that happened on post Thursday morning.

"We see a lot of motorcycle crashes, car crashes, injuries from jumps and training injuries because of our special population we have at Fort Bragg," said Jennifer Carney, Womack's trauma program coordinator. "As soon as we get that trauma call, if it sounds severe, we page over the whole entire hospital to let them know a trauma red is coming and when they might be here."

For many of the healthcare professionals, the mission is personal.

"The difference is this suit right here," said Clinical Nurse Specialist Maj. Rosie Bennett. "The large majority of the staff members here are either military or very affiliated with the military in some aspect."

Among the seven injured were six soldiers and one civilian, an observer from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He suffered minor injuries.

An investigation is ongoing. The SWCS Command is working in conjunction with the Army Safety Center on the formal accident investigation.