Combat medics ready for whatever ails Soldiers

Courtesy Photo | BAGHDAD -- Sgt. Kevin Pantoja, a combat medic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, during sick call hours at the squadron aid station. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Dan Balda, 4th Brigade Combat Team PAO)  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

09.13.2005

Courtesy Story

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Spc. Dan Balda
4th Brigade Combat Team PAO

BAGHDAD -- The medics assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, joined the Army for reasons most involved in the medical profession can attest to: they enjoy helping people.

For one combat medic"Staff Sgt. Aaron Stone'the reason was a little closer to home. Stone's mother was always patching up the usual childhood injuries like scraped knees and twisted ankles. When Stone was 12 years old, his mother diagnosed his stomachache as something a little more serious than a run-of-the-mill ailment"her son had appendicitis.

On that day, Stone knew he wanted to be a medic.

Now on his second combat tour in Iraq, Stone and the medics who work with him are able to give back to the Soldiers out on the front lines.

The HHT medics assist their squadron in a number of ways, starting with running an aid station to provide Level One healthcare to their Soldiers.

"Level One care is basically sick call'stuff like a fever or flu-like symptoms," said Sgt. Kevin Pantoja, a native of Puerto Rico. "Having our own aid station helps us keep our skills current while also taking care of our own."

Pantoja had something else in mind when he joined the Army as a medic. He imagined he"d be working in a hospital, taking patients" blood pressure and starting write-ups. Once he got to Iraq, however, that world of white lab coats and squeaky, sterile hallways gave way to dust, dirt and combat.

"At Advanced Individual Training they teach you basic Emergency Medical Technician stuff, send you to your unit and you go from there," said Stone, a native of Goldsboro, N.C.

Stone used his squadron's mission readiness exercise as an opportunity to train his Soldiers, new and old, to be prepared for the non-linear battlefield of Iraq.

"We had nothing but mass casualties for a whole week," Stone said. "It was basically the worst week of our lives. It gave the guys a heads up on what to expect out here. It was an eye-opener to say to ourselves, "Hey this could really happen over there.""

Luckily, the kind of trauma the medics spent so much time training for has not reared its ugly head, but that doesn't mean they don't constantly exceed the standard when it comes to training.

"Whenever we aren't busy, we are training on everything we might see out here," said Pantoja. "We go through all the steps involved in the treatment so we know we are ready if they need us."

When they aren't seeing Soldiers during sick call hours, the medics are out on missions supporting the line units.

"The missions here are constant, not only for us, but for our line medics as well," Stone said. "We have four medics assigned to each line company. Every single mission our squadron goes out on takes at least one medic with them."

When the squadron undertakes large missions, the medics ride along for treatment and evacuation if the need arises.

"All the noncommissioned officers are our instructors here," Stone said. "They have been doing a great job to make sure everybody is up to speed on their training and are ready to assist the squadron if they get called out on a mission."

• Date Taken: 09.13.2005
• Date Posted: 09.13.2005 11:07
• Story ID: 2990
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ