‘Dagger’ brigade medics undergo trauma training

Photo By Sgt. Dana Moen | Spc. Jose Morales, a medic with 1st Battalion, 7th FA Regiment, 2nd ABCT, 1st Infantry Division, assesses a simulated casualty with his team during the Brigade Combat Team Trauma Training June 19 at the at the Medical Simulations Training Center on Fort Riley, Kan. Medical Soldiers are honing their combat lifesaving skills as preparation for the brigade’s deployment later this year.  

FORT RILEY, KS, UNITED STATES

06.29.2015

Story by Sgt. Dana Moen 

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORT RILEY, Kan. - More than 100 medical Soldiers from the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, battled a grueling 100 degree Kansas heat to hone their lifesaving skills June 16 to 26 at Fort Riley in preparations for an upcoming deployment.

“Brigade Combat Team Trauma Training is a pre-deployment trauma training for medics,” Capt. Robert Levesque, the BCT3 officer in charge from 187th Medical Battalion, 32nd Medical Brigade said. “It is developed to provide an intense and in-your-face training to ensure its combat medics are ready to preserve life at a moment’s notice.”

According to the Levesque, a documented 15 percent of battlefield deaths were due to uncontrolled hemorrhage, tension pneumothorax, airway obstruction and hypothermia.

“As a line [unit] medic, we are on the ground and in the mix,” Spc. Jose Morales, a medic with 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd ABCT said. “If and when a Soldier gets injured, we must be able to stop the bleeding and save that Soldiers life.”

During the intense two week training, broken down into two phases, medics had their skills validated by instructors from 187th Medical Battalion, 32nd Medical Brigade from Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

“We received refresher courses in a classroom environment,” Cpl. Steven Upham, senior medic with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd ABCT said. “But hands on is where it all comes together and it sticks.”

Days three and four were about muscle memory, Upham said. Repetition, repetition and again repetition. It helps that we all know our jobs.

The final day of the training served as a culminating event; designed to be physically and emotionally demanding.

“Teamwork and communication are important in the medical field,” Morales said. “Too much of them both can lead to major success in the field.”

Levesque said that trauma management is a perishable skill that tends to be lose without repetitive practice.

“We expect Soldiers to sharpen their trauma management skills,” said Levesque. “A lot of its reactive, as the correct intervention at the wrong time can kill a casualty. These realistic lanes the soldiers underwent help to build the necessary confidence medics need in order to save lives.

Satisfied with how the training went, Levesque said, “At the end of the day, the objective is to bring our brothers and sister home.”

Editor's note: Checkout the brigade's YouTube for video of the training at https://youtu.be/tfG0etZEiro.

• Date Taken: 06.29.2015
• Date Posted: 06.29.2015 14:48
• Story ID: 168521
• Location: FORT RILEY, KS, US