Photo By Staff Sgt. Ryan Smith | Staff Sgt. Scott C. Webb, a native of Soldotna, Alaska, is Regimental Combat Team 8's...... read more read more
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELARAM, Afghanistan - Marines in Afghanistan are not strangers to the danger they face when patrolling the streets and fields of Northern Helmand province. The threat from insurgent activity surrounds them as they move, ever cautiously, from position to position.
“BOOM!”
The loud, almost deafening, sound of an improvised explosive device is enough to send shivers through the patrol…then come the cries of pain.
Injuries or illness to Marines and sailors is a serious occurrence and can sometimes threaten life, limb or eyesight. Quick evaluations at the scene generate the need to get them to a higher level of care as soon as possible and with a call over the radio, one Marine jumps to action at the Combat Operations Center for Regimental Combat Team 8.
Tick…tick…tick…the golden hour begins.
With only a few key strokes to his computer, a medical evacuation mission is underway.
Staff Sgt. Scott Webb, an air support operations coordinator with Marine Air Support Squadron 1, attached to RCT-8, is a crucial part of the communication process for medevacs and air strikes in the regiment’s area of operations.
“For the Marine Corps I’m somewhat of a 911 operator,” said Webb, who calls Soldotna, Alaska home, approximately 60 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. “Specifically, when a Marine is out on patrol, he’s injured and the corpsman assess he needs to be transported out immediately and they need air to do it, the message is sent up. I process the message and get it to the people who need it in order to get a medevac aircraft out there to pick him up.
“The golden hour refers to the timeline in which some of the most severe injuries need to be treated by,” said Webb, currently a junior at American Military University. “Medical authorities have determined that the first hour from injury the most crucial to ensuring survivability of that Marine.”
The golden hour can be a little more flexible depending upon which aircraft provides the medevac. Certain aircraft already have personnel on board to begin the necessary steps to cover significant battlefield injuries.
“The time of injury to time of resuscitative care is the golden hour,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Michael Young, regimental senior chief and medical corpsman. “The longer you go past that hour your survival rate drops.”
“You have a better chance at survival in Afghanistan from being shot or blown up or anything, than on the streets of any major city in the U.S., because the medical infrastructure is here to get you quickly into the hands of medical personnel who can take care of you,” added Young.
Tick…tick…tick…
According to Webb, the overall goal is to pick up a casualty as quickly as possible. The type of injury, whether routine or urgent, determines the quickness of the response and type of aircraft sourced for the injury. Urgent casualties need immediate medical care as routine casualties can afford the extra time it takes to be moved to a proper facility. This is where Webb’s experience comes in play when prioritizing movement.
“If it’s a fairly severe injury, we are getting the aircraft spun up and launched to the point of injury quickly,” said Webb. “The good thing is with the current technologies we’ve got out here, I can get a message passed within 15-20 seconds. I screen the (medevac) message before I send it; if it’s perfect, it is literally seconds.”
On the battlefield, every second is important to a wounded Marine.
Since Webb sits in the COC, he is privy to operations going on throughout the area. He uses his knowledge of the operations to cue in on where his services might be needed.
“There’s times when I hear certain events are taking place with the ground forces and those types of events will have collateral issues such as medevacs and things like that,” said Webb. “I prepare myself.
I say ‘hey, something’s about to happen or something is in progress. I need to be on my toes because there could be a medevac coming quickly.’ So I’m right there ready; so as soon as it does come, there’s no loss in time from my position.”
The most prevalent injuries to service members in Afghanistan have been caused by the improvised explosive device. According to Webb, most of the medevac missions he sees are the results of one of these underground bombs waiting to go off.
“When you hear about someone who has lost a limb, it hurts and makes you feel like you need to do everything you can to support them,” said Webb. “You see someone you know… you won’t actually know them specifically, but you know them as a Marine. You want to assist them getting the treatment and the care they need. I take a lot of pride in being able to be that link in the chain to get them help.”
Tick…tick…tick…
Webb isn’t the only Marine with these capabilities. He currently has four Marines he is training to eventually take over and field the close air support requests.
“There is a hierarchy of training that you go through and I am assisting them in gaining the experience,” said Webb, who has completed two combat deployments to Iraq. “Some of them are more at the basic level but are progressing at being more confident and knowing the information. They are getting their first taste in a combat scenario. They’re realizing it’s no longer training and moving into the ‘hey, I’m doing my job for real and there’s actually someone that’s hurt.’ I’ve already noticed that some of these Marines take their job a bit more serious and it’s a good thing. They’re trained well; they came out here confident which is good, but no matter how much training you do, when it starts happening in real life and there’s actual people getting hurt, it makes everything they have been training for make sense and they’re prepared for it.”
Webb had begun putting his Marines through the paces months before their deployment to Afghanistan. Many times, he and his Marines would go on training missions at Camp Lejeune, N.C. with infantry units preparing for their own deployments.
“In garrison we do a lot of training,” said Webb. “We have training on medical missions where we practice knowing exactly what information is required. That way when it comes to us, we are screening it to make sure it’s accurate and have all the information, that way the Marine can be supported. We do those types of training throughout the year.
A lot of the times we will even go out with the ground combat elements and do those types of training as well. This way there is actual living people getting on the aircraft to simulate a casualty for medical missions.”
Webb and his team are also responsible for all the gear they use on a regular basis; communications equipment, radios and networking equipment, which all play important roles when close air support is called into action.
“It’s my responsibility as the (staff noncommissioned officer in charge) of the detachment to make sure this (communications) equipment is being taken care of appropriately; that our frequencies and networks are up and running; so there are additional responsibilities other than just sitting in the COC,” said Webb.
“It’s really gratifying,” said Webb. “I know I am making an impact on the ground. There’s someone that’s hurt…that’s injured, needs medical treatment at an appropriate-level medical facility and it’s my job to ensure he gets there in a timely fashion. I feel like I do impact the battlefield greatly.”
| Date Taken: | 10.08.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.08.2011 08:04 |
| Story ID: | 78218 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELARAM II, AF |
| Web Views: | 341 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Precious moments of a golden hour: Alaska Marine directs air ambulances, by SSgt Ryan Smith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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