USD-C medics pass lessons learned on to Iraqi Army medics

Courtesy Photo | Pfc. Glenn Dingus (second from left), a combat medic with Company C, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Divison – Center and a Columbus, Ohio, native, talks an Iraqi Army medic through how to treat an open chest wound Jan. 9 during a three-day course at the aid station at the Besmaya Combat Training Center. (Photo by: Spc. William K. Ermatinger)  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

01.10.2011

Courtesy Story

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs

BAGHDAD — American combat medics have gained invaluable experience on the front lines in Iraq—and at a great cost. At least that’s the way Iraqi Army Lt. Mohammad Oday sees it.

Medics with Company C, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Division – Center passed that experience on to their IA counterparts during a combat lifesaver course earlier this month at the Besmaya Combat Training Center.

The three-day course focused on essential first aid tasks that every medic must be able to perform to save lives in a combat environment.

“The Americans have passed on their experience and education and that has been a great benefit to us,” said Oday, the senior medic at the aid station on Besmaya Combat Training Center.

The training was organized and taught by Staff Sgt. Eric Ring, a medic with Company C, 1st Bn., 18th Inf. Regt. and a Lincoln, Neb., native, and Pfc. Glenn Dingus, also a medic with Company C, and a Columbus, Ohio, native.

Ring said one challenge has been making the training simple enough to demonstrate.

“Translation of the medical terminology can make the training difficult,” he said. “To work through this, we planned ahead and used basic terms to describe procedures.”

Dingus, who is on his first deployment, said working with the Iraqi medics has helped him.

“Training the Iraqi medics is a way to stay sharp and improve my teaching abilities,” he said.

To complete the course satisfactorily, each Iraqi medic was required to demonstrate the step-by-step procedure for how to evaluate the patient and perform proper lifesaving techniques.

Oday observed his soldiers at the aid station during CPR and airway training lanes.

“What we know we learned in schools, and even though we graduated, there is a difference between what we learned [then] and what is [revised] for today,” Oday said. “The American medics have actual experience with wounded soldiers.”

“Some of the Iraqi medics are doctors, and we factored that into our training plan,” Ring said. “We teach the skills that are needed to treat patients for combat injuries.”

Oday has been a medical doctor for seven years and a doctor with the Iraqi Army for six years. “Since I was a boy, I had always wanted to be an officer in the Iraqi Army and becoming a doctor gave me that opportunity,” he said.

Oday said his crew was happy with the training and looks forward to working more with U.S. medics. They felt comfortable with doing the procedures especially when they were able to demonstrate their new skills.

“My soldiers showed that they learned a lot from these exercises and they feel good about their abilities,” he said.

Ring said he plans to continue classes with the IA medics as long as they are eager to learn.

“We want to assist our Iraqi partners so that they can continue to provide care with the resources they have and work to provide advanced training to improve the patient care for the Iraqi soldiers at Besmaya,” he said.

• Date Taken: 01.10.2011
• Date Posted: 01.26.2011 06:03
• Story ID: 64227
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ