ANGELES CITY, Philippines - U.S. Navy corpsman assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing out of Okinawa, Japan, conducted a basic life saving familiarization class with Philippine Air Force and U.S. Marine crash fire rescue firefighters April 11.
The class was part of Balikatan 2013, an annual bilateral training exercise, and emphasized casualty care, trauma and triage while familiarizing firefighters with some of the life saving equipment necessary to keep them and their patients safe in emergency situations.
“Exchanging knowledge with other countries is great because not only does it help keep their forces safe, it helps keep my Marines safe when the two nations are working together,” said U.S. Navy corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class Ferik Roman.
Training side by side gave the firefighters the opportunity to see new equipment and techniques.
“Learning the medical techniques from the corpsman is good for us because we don’t always get the same training as the U.S. Marines,” PAF firefighter Staff Sgt. Nino Perez said. “This is my first Balikatan exercise here at Clark, but it is not my first time working with the Marines. It’s good to see how they deal with trauma and triage.”
U.S. firefighters were impressed with the Philippine forces’ teamwork and eagerness to endeavor new training.
“We’ve been working really closely with these guys. They’re impressive, very intense and efficient in everything they do,” said U.S. Marines Staff Sgt. Stephen Kiser, firefighter assigned to MWSS 172. “As firefighters, we are constantly training and learning from each other. Balikatan is just another way we can become better.”