ANA medics learn to teach others

25th Combat Aviation Brigade
Story by Sgt. Daniel Schroeder

Date: 05.06.2012
Posted: 05.07.2012 04:06
News ID: 88002
Operation Slipper Afghanistan

TARIN KOT, Afghanistan - Flight medics from Company C, 3rd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, assisted mentors from Slovakia, Australia, and the U.S. Army to teach Afghan National Army medics on Multinational Base Tarin Kot, Afghanistan, May 2.

Referred to as a train-the-trainer event, 25th CAB crew members and mentors guided 205th Corps Afghan National Army soldiers through a three-day course teaching how to train their own soldiers in medical evacuation, and allowing the 205th Corps soldiers to travel to forward operating bases and train Afghan medics on medevac procedures in the future.

"The students already had the basic first aid training, but the procedures for dealing with the medevac helicopter were new to them,"
said Staff Sgt. Joe Buatti, a flight medic with Company C, 3-25 Aviation, 25th CAB.

During the course, students went through training in communications procedures, ground-air evacuation, and patient treatment and packaging which culminated in a hands-on patient preparation and aircraft loading training event with a UH-60 Black Hawk.

Capt. Toor Kahn, company commander of a 205th Corps medical unit, said that the training, being a first for them, is beneficial to the 205th and will enable them to send personnel forward to train and certify other Afghan medics at forward bases.

"This was a first in training soldiers to train others and many of these soldiers are already using their medical skills in the field," said Kahn.
Company leaders sent their best soldiers to this training to build even greater capabilities for future successes for Afghan National Forces.

"The Afghan medics asked a lot of good questions throughout the training," said Sgt. George Zantos, a flight medic with C/3-25 AVN.
"With seeing all of the equipment, the noise, and stress of the class helped improve the training and learning for the ANA."

Since the start of the transition to the Afghan security forces in the lead, the ANA has seen many firsts in training and continues to receive the training needed to conduct independent operations.

"We are very thankful to ISAF for all they have done," said 1st Lt.
Allisha Allishazada, 205th Corps communications officer for the training. "This means so much to the Afghan National Army and the people of Afghanistan."

Mentors are hopeful that beyond training their own, the Afghan medics will be able to use the information learned as a baseline to create their own operating procedures based on their unit's specific medical needs.