U.S. Army medics teach Iraqi forces how to treat trauma

Courtesy Photo | FOB UNION 3-- Spc. Ryan Walker, a combat medic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment and a native of Pendleton, Ore., looks on as an Iraqi training to be a medic prepares to give a fellow classmate an IV.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

11.07.2005

Courtesy Story

DVIDS Hub       

Spc. Dan Balda
4th Brigade Combat Team PAO

BAGHDAD -- Combat medics are used to giving combat lifesaver classes to U.S. Soldiers to make sure they are ready for any contingency.

What medics from 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery are not used to is speaking through an interpreter to a class of Iraqis, eager to learn all they can about saving lives, so they can take their newfound knowledge out to the streets of Baghdad.

The Iraqi students serve as the security forces for prominent political leaders in Baghdad. The class covers basic human physiology, basic medical terms, intravenous therapy and"most importantly here in Iraq"how to treat trauma.

The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Daniel Pinnell, wanted to pass on his medics" field knowledge to their Iraqi counterparts.

Pinnell asked various Iraqi ministries and police groups if they would be interested in sending their personnel through medical training, said Spc. Ryan Walker, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Bn., 76th FA.

The two-week course includes classroom instruction as well as hands-on practice on skills like running an IV. After they finish the lectures and feel more comfortable with the training, the Iraqis start the trauma assessment with a head-to-toe exam.

"We have medical equipment for them to train on, so they feel confident with their hands which is the most important thing when it comes to medical stuff," Walker said. "It gives them a better understanding of how and why they are learning these skills."

One of the students is taking his second class, not because of failure to grasp the material the first time around, but because he realizes the importance of the training and wants to learn as much as possible.

"He is constantly coming back, asking for more trainingâ?¦and more knowledge," Walker said. "We like to help him as much as we can and let him sit in on some classes. He's actually saved a couple of guys" lives in the unit he is with."

The only difficulty the American Soldiers run into while teaching the class is the language barrier, but with patience they manage to get the important parts understood by their students.

"I really have to slow it down a lot to make sure I give the interpreter plenty of time to throw out the information," Walker said. "Sometimes we get a translator who has a harder time turning the medical terms into Arabic. That's why the slides are a lot of help. We have the Arabic words on there so that helps explain it a little better."

Walker, a firefighter/emergency medical technician before joining the military, has always enjoyed helping to "fix" people. Training the Iraqis in lifesaving techniques is just an extension of that.

"I like doing these classes because if someone gets (attacked) these guys are more than willing to help and they can assist us with their medical knowledge as best they can," Walker said. "I miss going out on the line but this is going to help us and Iraq as a whole quite a bit."

• Date Taken: 11.07.2005
• Date Posted: 11.07.2005 12:26
• Story ID: 3600
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ