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HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — The Combat Support Advisory Team is tasked with advising the Afghan National Army’s 4th Kandak, 1st Brigade, 215th Corps, on the many different aspects of combat support operations.
One key area in the development of ANA combat support capabilities is the basic combat life saving skills of Afghan soldiers, which enable them to provide immediate care to casualties on the battlefield.
As the new CSAT takes the reins from their predecessors, new teachers are teaching new skills.
“The old team taught them a whole lot of advanced medical training,” said U.S. Navy Seaman Taqkari Johnson, a corpsman with the CSAT. “I’m going to go in and fine tune the basic skills for treating trauma, shock and stuff like that.”
“It’s good to know the medications and all the advanced stuff … but it all boils down to knowing the basics,” added Johnson. “Right now they’re not seeing a bunch of fevers and colds, they’re seeing a bunch of IEDs and trauma cases like that.”
With trauma care in mind, Johnson began a medical class to instruct ANA soldiers on the proper use of tourniquets, pressure dressings and other basic combat lifesaving tools.
The course was attended by nine soldiers, with a mixed level of skills in combat care. At the beginning of the class, each soldier was asked about themselves and what they learned up to this point in combat casualty care. Once introductions were out the way, Johnson dove into the course material.
“I taught them the basics of what a tourniquet is,” said Johnson. “When to use a tourniquet, where to apply it and how much pressure to apply. “
The first day of the course ended with a practical application drill. Two soldiers would lay on the ground with a notional injury to an arm, leg or multiple limbs. Tourniquets were given to another pair of soldiers waiting about 50 feet away to provide care to the notional casualties.
The two soldiers tasked as care providers would race down to their notional casualty, assess his injuries and apply the tourniquet as necessary to treat the simulated wounds.
The soldiers were all smiles at the conclusion of the first day’s training, giving positive feedback to their corpsman advisor.
“It’s very important for us to learn these skills. If some of our soldiers or some of our friends get injured we can help those guys and save lives, “ said Shah Wali, a soldier with Engineer Tolai, 4/1/215. “We are always in combat and [there is] always a chance for us to get injured.”
“We want to do as much training as possible so we can teach it to the other soldiers,” Wali added.
Equipping as many soldiers as possible with the knowledge to preserve a life and limb on the battlefield will aid in the continued development the ANA as they assume responsibility for security across southern Helmand.
Editor’s Note: The Combat Support Advisory Team is currently operating in direct support of Regimental Combat Team 5, 1st Marine Division (Forward), which works in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. The Unit is dedicated to securing the Afghan people, defeating insurgent forces and enabling ANSF assumption of security responsibilities within its area of operations in order to support the expansion of stability, development and legitimate governance.
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2012 13:12 |
| Story ID: | 88095 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 363 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Afghan soldiers with combat support kandak learn trauma care techniques, by Cpl Anthony Ward Jr, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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