Airmen train as combat lifesavers to start Warrior Care on the battlefield

Published Nov. 24, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Craig Lifton
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- "Nine minutes to evacuation," a Soldier yelled to other combat lifesaver students, who were huddled around several simulated wounded Soldiers, to advise them of incoming medical evacuation helicopters. Each small group patched up simulated injuries made of Hollywood like special effects. Some work on bleeding wounds and checked airways, while others inserted real intravenous needles to replace fluids that an injured person would lose.

As some students bandaged wounds and others jotted down information on field medical cards, one student simply comforted a Soldier by talking to him and holding his hand.

"Medical care doesn't start in the hospital, but on the battlefield with the first responder laying hands on a wounded warrior." said Col. Mark Mavity, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group commander. "Our first priority here is to save lives, and our success begins with the large number of combat lifesaver-trained soldiers and Airmen in the area of operations."

For this reason, the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Group requires its Airmen to become CLS-certified. With no assigned medics in the security forces squadrons, it's important to have a large portion of security forces Airmen here trained, said Maj. Douglas Webb, the group's medical officer.

"The security forces Airmen take CLS seriously because they are fighting for their buddies' lives." said Webb, a physician's assistant and native of Morrill, Neb.

CLS students learn how to control hemorrhaging, manage the patient's airway and even how to treat tension pneumothorax, also known as a sucking chest wound, said Army Sgt. Dustin Pham, an instructor with of the 345th Combat Support Hospital. They learn how to use nasopharyngeals, tubes placed in through the nose to keep the airway open. They also learn how to start IVs, apply tourniquets and emergency trauma dressings, and use new hemostatic agents that help stop serious bleeding.

"Usually, CLS is a five-day class, but in theater it is three days long," said Pham, a Dallas native and health care specialist deployed from the 94th Combat Support Hospital in Texas. "We expedited the class to get the Soldiers and Airman trained and prepared for real-life situations. We teach them how to properly evaluate a casualty and how to find all of their injuries and treat them."

On the battlefield, CLS trained servicemembers must act quickly to save lives, said Army Sgt. Casey Jemelka, another instructor from the 345th CSH.

"There is a 'golden hour' to treat someone who is wounded or injured, and that is where warrior care begins," said Jemelka. "If a CLS can treat victims and keep them alive until they get to a medical treatment facility, they have a very good chance to survive."

"A battle-injured American servicemember transported to the Air Force Theater Hospital stands a 98 percent chance of survival, which is a true testament to all the world-class livesaving care they received on the battlefield, enroute, and then upon arrival," according to Mavity.

According to Webb, the key to saving lives is focusing on the basics.

"The bottom line is airway, breathing and circulation," Webb said. "If you get the airway open, make sure the victim is breathing and patch his holes to keep the blood in, he is going to make it, which is what CLS is really about."

"I've seen combat lifesavers in action," said Webb, who is deployed from the 820th Security Forces Group at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. "They do a good job."

"Six minutes to evac," shouted one of the students in the casualty collection point where CLS students worked on their patients. Groups prepared the wounded for movement, some on stretchers and others on makeshift litters. They moved carefully, with four students carrying each wounded warrior to an orange panel that marked the landing zone, as their instructors watched. The students rechecked the wounded to ensure there were no new injuries or complications. They then waited to load the injured one at a time onto simulated helicopters.

"It's really good training, but I hope I never have to use it," said Staff Sgt. Joseph Wilson, a security forces journeyman with the 332nd ESFG. "I would rather have and not need the skills, instead of need and not have them."