Photo By Tech. Sgt. Peter Dean | Certified TCCC instructors from the Air Force Reserve 927th Air Refueling Wing,...... read more read more
Although 98 percent is near perfect, near perfect is not good enough when you have a fellow Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine in need of lifesaving battlefield treatment. Certified TCCC instructors from the Air Force Reserve 927th Air Refueling Wing, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida and active duty 6 Air Mobility Wing, MacDill AFB, facilitated a three-day joint TCCC course here, 16 through 18 Nov.
“Statistics show on the battlefield, the pre-hospital period is the most important time to care for any combat casualty,” said James Norbech, 6AMW Medical Programs chief and lead TCCC instructor “In previous wars, up to 90 percent of combat deaths occurred before a casualty reached a medical treatment facility.”
TCCC is not designed to train battlefield warriors as full up medics, but to provide them the necessary skills to suppress hostile fire, move casualties to a safe location and provide treatment of life-threatening conditions.
“It has been well documented that since T-triple C has been introduced to our armed services our died of wounds rate has drop dramatically. We currently have some Army unit that have an almost zero died of wounds rate due to the procedures and guidelines of T-triple C,” said Norbech.
The three part course, included textbook, hands-on medical training and on the final day, an as realistic as possible scenario that is designed for the trainee to react under pressure. The final scenario staged life-like mannequins posing as a patrol that encountered an improvised explosive device. Trainees had to perform all aspects of TCCC while actively under hostile fire, paintballs.
“Although books and hands on training are great, we have to put their split-second decision making to the test,” said Master Sgt. Brad Clark, 927ARW, Aeromedical Staging Squadron technician, and TCCC instructor. “The first phase of the course is called care under fire, it’s the immediate care needed while you are actually under enemy fire. That’s something that every individual that deploys needs to know! If they find themselves in that situation, they’ll know how to respond, a good phrase is stress inoculation.”
The instructor team much like the students are pulled from all branches of the U.S Military, with many having not only the training but also possessing real world experience.
“The majority of our instructors have ‘walked the walk’, I’m a 22-year Army combat medic veteran, with multiple tours in Iraq,” said Norbech. “Master Sgt. Clark was also an Army combat medic attached to an infantry unit with tours in Iraq. We capitalize on the vast experience throughout the entire local military community, bringing in the folks that can provide the best training possible.”
The delivery method is just as important as the message, for instance, for hard drive/thumb drive usage, computer based training is adequate, Green Dot training is best suited for a classroom style training venue, but for life-saving training technics, hands on is the best option.
“The stress was there, we were being shot at, the mannequins were bleeding, people were yelling from all directions, it was stressful,” said Army Specialist Xuan Nguyen, SOCCENT, Communications operator. “Under stress you don’t know how you’re going to react, you don’t know how your teammate is going to react, you don’t know if they/we are going to panic or just stand there. This was great training, even though the training was just a few days, we retained it, we did good.”
TCCC training does not stop once the bleeding has subsided, medevac is also needed, once the area is deemed safe, a nine line report must be completed, providing the next line of medical care all the necessary information.
“With our high deployment rate, I now feel prepared to protect myself and my fellow brothers and sisters and ensure we all come home,” said Nguyen.
| Date Taken: | 11.25.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 12.04.2016 09:03 |
| Story ID: | 216343 |
| Location: | MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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