ALI AL SALEM AIR BASE, Kuwait -- U.S. Airmen from the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron (ECES), 386th Expeditionary Medical Squadron and the 79th Expeditionary Fighter Generation Squadron (EFGS) held in-depth classes and hands-on training for Kuwait Army firefighters on basic lifesaving care and pilot evacuation techniques on, September 14, 2022.
Several Kuwaiti soldiers attended the training and each one was highly motivated to learn advanced skills to save someone’s life in a crisis event.
In a life or death scenario, seconds can make the difference. This training helped equip host-nation partners with the same training as U.S. first-responders. They now have invaluable tools to save someone’s life.
“By offering this training on how to keep their guys from becoming a fatality on the field, this will help them save someone in need and get them to an upper echelon of care, such as the hospital. This could help prevent a loss of life” said Airman 1st Class Alex Moore, 386th Expeditionary Medical Squadron aerospace medical technician. “This was really important for them.”
Moore and his team walked the firefighters through the basics of Tactical Combat Casualty Care, a training that teaches basic life and limb saving techniques to include tourniquet and pressure bandage application to help manage bleeding. This section culminated in a hands-on opportunity for the firefighters.
“They did really well stopping the bleeding and overall, I think it was a successful training” said Moore. “The first firefighter got up there and perfectly cinched and tightened the tourniquet and the bleeding stopped. It felt great to see someone go from never doing that to doing it his first time and nailing it.”
Following the classroom instruction, they had a front row seat as the 386th ECES firefighters held a fire attack exercise on a F-16CM Fighting Falcon, which included simulating putting out an aircraft fire and rapidly opening the canopy to egress the pilot to safety.
“On the fire department side, we were able to show them the equipment we're working with and the strategies and tactics we would use to evacuate a pilot (even if they are unconscious) and get them out of the aircraft safely” said Staff Sgt. Tyler Peretti, 386th ECES crew chief.
Training alongside our coalition partners, every question and exercise always contributes towards the ultimate goal—that everyone is able to go home at the end of the day.
“This allowed them to see how we operate so that if we were to respond in a joint capacity, they would know what to expect, and how we operate,” said Peretti. “It all goes towards our joint force relations to really just get a smooth response and make sure everybody gets home safe.”