Photo By Master Sgt. Peter Mayes | Pfc. James Banks (left), a medic with the 194th Military Police Company, 716th...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Pete Mayes
101st Sustainment Brigade
FORT CAMPBELL, KY. - Pfc. James Banks decided to be a little creative when he applied anatomical splint on his partner’s legs. The technique called for using his partner’s good leg to stabilize his broken leg, and bandage both together.
He completed the task under the watchful eye of Brigade Medic Training Instructor, Staff Sgt. John Adey, who then promptly reminded him that while the splint was effective if there was nothing else to use, it wasn’t practical if the soldier was in a combat environment taking fire, thus hindering his movement.
Banks, a medic with the 194th Military Police Company, 716th Military Police Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, is among 15 medics across the brigade who are preparing for the upcoming Expert Field Medical Badge competition. He said he decided to attempt that type of splint as a means of learning opportunity for himself.
“I’ve never done one like this before in real life. I picked a type of splint that might be effective, but not for the situation so I could get feedback,” he said. “You could anatomically splint there, but would you want to? Yeah, we splinted the injury, but now we made moving him difficult. It brings about the thought process of looking at the big picture.”
It’s that type of attention to detail that will determine if a combat medic will be successful in obtaining the field’s most prestigious award, the Expert Field Medical Badge.
Brigade Medical Operations non-commissioned officer in charge Sgt. 1st Class Jason Morgan said the EFMB was created in the mid 1960’s as a complement badge to the Infantry’s Expert Infantry Badge. It’s designed to showcase the combat medic’s level of expertise in Mission Occupational Specialty and combat events.
The competition also includes a 100-question written exam and a 12-mile ruck march to be completed in less than three hours, he said.
“Last year, the pass rate for the competition was less than 17 percent,” Morgan said. “The badge is extremely hard to earn, and if the soldier does not pay attention to detail, he can fail a portion of the lanes that he's competing in. You're dealing with a soldier's life and if you do not do the steps right, you've caused the situation to go from bad to worse."
Morgan said preparation for the EFMB competition began in late February. The participants have conducted hands- on training, including a study hall to go over the soldier skills task and even run through the land navigation course. The actual testing week begins May 6.
"As the candidate goes through the individual testing they have for the day, the numbers begin to slowly dwindle," Morgan said. "Toward the end of the week, the remaining candidates will take their written examination, pack their gear, and then conduct the 12-mile road march that they have to complete in three hours or less."
The candidates are allowed a certain amount of "no-go’s" during the competition, Morgan said, but if they add up, it will cause the candidate to fail completely.
"That's the difference between the EFMB competition and the infantry's Expert Infantryman's Badge competition. During the EIB, the soldiers are allowed to re-test if they no-go a lane, whereas if the EFMB candidates get a no-go on test week, that's it,' he said.
The candidates are allowed to go before a review board during test week if they disagree with the no-go, Morgan said. "The board will review the case with all the parties involved, and make a decision if the soldier is allowed to stay as a candidate," he said. "Most of the time, if it's a good case, it works in the candidates favor."
Once they come across the finish line of the road march, the candidates are the gathered together, and, much like Air Assault graduation, there will be a graduation ceremony conducted at the parade field, Morgan said.
"This is right up there with the Expert Infantryman's Badge," he said. "A lot of the medics hold this badge in high regard because it's one of the few badges within our community that is just for medics. When I got mine in 1999, there were more than 300 candidates who competed, but only 42 or43 of us got the badge."
The significance of the badge is not lost on Pfc. Alex Moon, a medic assigned to 2-44th Air Defense Artillery Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade who is currently on his first permanent duty assignment.
"It's a known fact that this badge separates you from your peers, and as a (private first class), it'll set me apart from the other seven (private first class) medics in my platoon alone," he said.
Banks, who currently wears the Combat Medic Badge he earned during his deployment to Afghanistan, agrees with Moon. "I consider the EFMB to be more of an acquired skills badge," he said. "The CMB is more of a rite of passage badge during a deployment, but the EFMB focuses more on the ability to show that you have the skills necessary."
Morgan said the additional focus for the medics to be proficient in soldier skills such as land navigation, communication and evacuation is crucial to the "total soldier concept." As the days go by, the intensity levels during train-up increases, and the stress it places on the candidates become evident.
"You can tell a lot of these soldiers have never seen this training. They might know the basics, but now they're getting it upfront and in their faces and personal. And the feeling of being overwhelmed starts to set in because it's like an information overload," he said.
He also ensures the candidates are physically prepared for the rigors of the testing by conducting an intense physical training regimen that includes circuit training, a five-mile "litter run" with weights on the litter, and six-to eight mile ruck marches.
"Once you get on the lanes, the last thing you want is that medic to be physically tired. Once they're physically exhausted, that's when the mistakes start happening," Morgan said. "The first thing I wanted to ensure that they're in good physical condition to carry out the tasks."
Banks said during the train-up, he began to realize that he has developed some "bad habits" in treating soldiers during his deployment. "There is the right way versus the way that works for you," he said. "EFMB hits hard on doing it the way it's supposed to be done. It also focuses on the whole soldier concept, which is important for us."
"It really opened our eyes up the importance of the other skills sets. The likelihood is slim, but it is important for us to know.
Banks said the most important thing he wants people to understand about the importance of the testing is not just about the medical task, but about the attention to detail.
"It's about doing the right intervention at the right time in the right way," he said.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2012 15:06 |
| Story ID: | 87261 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 302 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Lifeliner Medics prepare for Expert Field Medical Badge competition, by MSG Peter Mayes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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