Photo By Capt. Alex Salmon | Sgt. 1st Class James Balandran, operations noncommissioned officer for the Texas...... read more read more
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VYSKOV, Czech Republic – In late 2011, an improvised explosive device exploded in the Logar province of Afghanistan severely wounding an American soldier. His life was ultimately saved by another soldier who was well trained in advanced combat trauma.
But the soldier who helped save the American’s life wore a completely different uniform and hailed from half a world away. For his actions, Staff Sgt. Michal Novotny of the Czech Republic Army received the U.S. Armed Forces Bronze Star for bravery. Novotny had recently attended a series of U.S. military professional health-care courses that focused on combat life saving and combat medicine. Without that training, the day’s outcome could have been much different.
The Texas Army National Guard aimed to expand that combat medical knowledge when four Texas Medical Command soldiers traveled to the Czech Republic, Sept. 9-13, as part of the State Partnership Program. Both the Nebraska and Texas National Guards partner with the Czech Republic. The partnership, which began in 1993, is one of 22 European partnerships that make up the U.S. European Command State Partnership Program and one of 65 worldwide partnerships that form the National Guard State Partnership Program.
According to Lt. Col. John Williams, a bilateral affairs officer stationed in the Czech Republic who oversees the Nebraska and Texas partnership with the NATO ally, the goal of SPP is to support the EUCOM country campaign plan. The National Guard provides subject matter experts from Nebraska and Texas who are capable of assisting in a number of areas that the Czech Republic is interested in. The desired end state is increased partner capacity and interoperability with a key ally.
“Battlefield medical care is something the Czechs have been interested in for several years and dating back three years ago our Texas soldiers visited the Czech Republic to help establish Combat Lifesaver Courses,” said Williams.
Williams added that through the partnership program with the Czech armed forces, many Czech soldiers have attended advanced medical courses in the U.S., so the decision was made to try to establish that capability within the Czech Republic.
“We brought Texas Soldiers to the Czech Republic to teach tactical combat casualty care to the CLS instructors so that they can then develop their own Czech program for deploying soldiers,” said Williams.
The four Texas National Guard Soldiers used their first few days in the city of Vsykov, Czech Republic, in the classroom, eventually taking that knowledge into a field exercise.
“We did our classroom training the first two days and we are implementing the tactics of what we were talking about here in the field and putting it into actual practical exercises,” said Sgt. 1st Class James Balandran, the operations noncommissioned officer of the Texas Medical Command.
During the field exercise, the Czech soldiers performed rotations of foot patrols and mounted patrols where they had to locate, treat and evacuate wounded soldiers. The Czech soldiers had to deal with terrain, small arms fire and improvised explosive devices all while evacuating their patients.
“They’re going through care under fire,” said Balandran, who explained it as the initial lifesaving steps after encountering an injured soldier.
“Tactical field care is the next phase and that’s where they get more invasive with their care – bandaging, splinting. And then the last phase they go into is called now tac-evac…and that is when they check the final interventions that they’ve done and call in medevac to transport them to a hospital.”
Balandran, who returned from an Afghanistan deployment earlier this year, said he worked with Czech soldiers while deployed. He added this was his second trip to the Czech Republic under SPP to share his medical knowledge, which is important because treatments are always evolving.
“Medical treatment is changing all the time,” said Balandran. “From 2009 to now it has changed from night and day.”
Balandran said the Czech troops had improved leaps and bounds in their medical training, so on this visit he wanted to focus on keeping up with medical advances.
“We are trying to get all the medical care on the same standard, so when we are treating other NATO soldiers they would know what we’re doing and vice versa,” he added.
Balandran said working with Czech counterparts has been a great experience.
“They’re very approachable and appreciative of what we’re doing,” said Balandran.
“They’re so interested in our ways of medical care and making sure that they ask all the questions,” he added. “Everything has been going really well.”
The Czech soldiers couldn’t agree more.
“It’s always a great opportunity to operate with our counterparts and (exchange) the information we received during out military deployments in Afghanistan or Iraq,” said Warrant Officer 1st Class Jaroslav Duchon, a combat paramedic and Czech CLS instructor.
Duchon said the Czech armed forces often lack medical training material, which forces them to become very resourceful. The Texas soldiers were able to provide some medical supplies to further strengthen the partnership. But by no means was the learning one way.
“We have problems with the material, the supply – the medical supply, but I think we have very clever medics and paramedics and doctors, so we can share the (information) we have and you can offer us the materials,” said Duchon. “With your materials and our experiences, or your experiences…we can improve ourselves.”
Balandran said he was very impressed how much the Czech medics recalled from his last visit three years ago, and that dedication means a lot to him.
“They’re top-notch – especially this crew here,” said Balandran. “They are medics…so they have kept up with the trends and changes , so it’s been very easy for us this time to go ahead and show them the changes.”
“I’ve been a medic for 22 years and I’m very passionate about my job,” he added. “And someone being passionate about their job in teaching others really shows a lot of passion towards what they want to know and it’s a good feeling.”
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 11.01.2013 12:26 |
| Story ID: | 116146 |
| Location: | LINCOLN, NE, US |
| Web Views: | 294 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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