“CLS is a necessary first responder course that all non-medical and coalition personnel need to know,” said Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hennessee, medical operations noncommissioned officer in charge, 1st AD RSSB, and a native of San Antonio, Texas. “The course provides personnel with a basic understanding of first aid/buddy aid.”
CLS training and refresher training has be proven extremely effective in treating Soldiers, coalition forces, civilians, and locals who may receive injuries while serving in a deployed environment and on the battlefield.
“It is important because it in a real life situation I want my soldiers to know how to react in those type of situations,” said Captain Fehim Djelilovic, platoon commander of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “It is important because in those first moments you can save a life.”
From officer to enlisted, each soldier in the class received detailed information on the life saving techniques.
“This allows us to help our comrades,” said Private First Class Jasmin Music, a medic in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Since I am a medic in my unit, I know about 90 percent of this, but we have guys that do not know first aid.”
Although most of the Bosnian soldiers received this training, building commodore and a partnership between the two armies helps spread the knowledge of first aid amongst troops in Afghanistan.
“Training with coalition forces is important so that we are on the same page whenever we take casualties,” said Hennessee. “Coalition forces often are the first responders, and need to know what is going on [in case there are injuries].”
Being in a deployed environment can prove challenging when trying to hone skills, but the medics of the 1st AD RSSB makes it their mission to train as many Soldiers as possible each month.
“We conduct this training during deployment on numerous occasion,” said Hennessee. “We try to conduct it monthly, but we will also work outside of that schedule too.”
With this refresher training on hand, the Bosnian soldiers find it a valuable source of information.
“Your noncommissioned officers are very knowledgeable and experienced and they know how to interact with our soldiers,” said Music. “We understood everything that he said, and it is our privilege to be here. It is good to cooperate with them.”
Although soldiers only use this training when someone is injured, it is important to ensure these skills are maintained.
“We had this training in Bosnia for five days and it was similar,” said Djelilvic. “Refresher training is important because if you do not do this all the time, you forget. For some of our Soldiers this is their first time conducting the training, so it is very important for them. For some of us this is our third or fourth time conducting the training.”
During the training, the Bosinan soldiers practiced applying tourniquets and nasopharyngeal airways to each other, which ensured the soldiers were capable to correctly place each tourniquet quickly with enough pressure to stop bleeding and to open the airway if it happened to be obstructed.
“We do not use NPAs but almost everything is similar, like tourniquets and the first aid bandages,” said Music.
Since this battlefield consist of more than just U.S. forces, it is important for coalition partners and U.S. Soldiers to understand how each other operate, so that in case of an emergency, each entity can work together collectively.
“This training makes me proud and we are professionals,” said Music. “If an American became a casualty, I would do my best to help them by using the knowledge the U.S. medics have provided and the knowledge we have to help that person. No matter who it is, American forces, coalition forces, or the civilian force, because a person is a person, and if they are injured I will help.”
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.11.2017 06:59 |
| Story ID: | 237244 |
| Location: | AF |
| Hometown: | SAN ANTONIO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. and Bosnian soldiers partner to save lives, by SGM Shelia Fourman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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