1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

Courtesy Story

CAMP RAMADI, Iraq – A platoon of paratroopers with the U.S. Army's Al Anbar-based advise and assist brigade taught basic combat-lifesaver skills to provincial security forces policemen at PSF 2 headquarters in Ramadi, Oct. 24, as part of an ongoing training partnership.

Third Platoon, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), conducted the refresher medical training with 18 Iraqi policemen, said Spc. Cameron Tyler, a medic with Company B.

"The Iraqi [soldiers] gave us their undivided attention," said Tyler.

The training included the use of tourniquets, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, the stoppage of different types of bleeding, implementation of splints, checking for responsiveness, and patient stabilization with both real and improvised litters, said Spc. Dallas Schumacher, also a medic with Company B.

The Iraqis paid close attention, and many of them stayed after the session to ask the instructors questions directly.

According to Schumacher, Col. Abed, commander of PSF 2, also requested training on the use of Global Positioning Systems. The Iraqi colonel was trying to acquire GPS units through his own chain of command rather than asking the Americans, he said.

The Iraqis continued requests for substantive training shows that Iraqi forces are mission-focused and are taking the lead against forces of instability in Iraq.

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