Thunderbirds learn to save lives in Ukraine

Photo By Staff Sgt. Anthony Jones | Sgt. Jedadia Tullis, a medic with the 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, from Oklahoma City, teaches a Soldier how to apply a splint during a combat lifesaver course at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center on the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Western Ukraine, on Oct. 4. (Photo by Sgt. Anthony Jones, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team)  

YAVORIV, UKRAINE

10.05.2017

Story by Sgt. Anthony Jones 

45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

Citizen-Soldiers from the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed to Ukraine don’t just sit around when there are no Ukrainian units to mentor.

The Soldiers, whose mission is to build the training capacity of the Ukrainian army, mentor Ukrainian battalions during a 55-day training cycle followed by a 20-day administrative reset period.

In between training cycles, they take it upon themselves to build their own readiness.

One way the 45th Soldiers, known as Thunderbirds, are enhancing their own skills is through a combat lifesaver course taught by medics from the Brigade’s 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment.

Sgt. Doug Engel, an army medic with the 1st Bn., 279th Inf. Regt., from Tulsa, Oklahoma, said the four-day course covers many topics that Soldiers need on and off the battlefield.

“Regardless of someone’s military occupational specialty, they could find themselves in an incident or firefight,” Engel said about why Soldiers other than medics need the medical training. “Even if it’s just an accident or attack on post, someone who wouldn’t normally find themselves outside the wire now has to be able to provide the kind of care a medic normally would.”

The unit’s mission in Ukraine is non-combat, but Engel feels Soldiers should always be prepared.

“This is built around general skills,” Engel said. “Accidents can happen on ranges or there could be equipment malfunctions. It is still important to know these skills.”

The purpose of a combat lifesaver is to serve as a bridge between a Soldier’s self-aid and the aid given by a trained combat medic.

Through courses like the one taught by Engel and fellow 1st Bn., 279th Inf. Regt. medics, Soldiers are trained to provide care under fire, which includes yelling commands, assessing a wounded soldier’s level of consciousness and controlling major bleeding.

The Soldiers are taught the only thing they do while still on “the X”, the name given to the location an injury occurs during combat, is to stop bleeding using tourniquets placed high and tight on whatever extremity is bleeding.

After getting off “the X”, Soldiers then perform a blood sweep. They touch every part of the patient’s body looking for blood, indicating they may have missed a wound during their initial assessment. The next step is to look, listen and feel the patient to ensure they are breathing. If the patient is unconscious or there is a blockage in their airway, students can take steps to clear the airway or place a tube through the nose and into the throat to ensure patients can breathe.

Following that, CLS students learn to remove body armor and clothing from the chest and make sure there are no entry or exit wounds. Students are taught how to treat those wounds, should they encounter them.

The last step is to check for and treat hypothermia and shock, and to prepare the casualty for movement to a higher level of care.

“We focus on treating wounds as they find them,” said Engel who has served as an army medic for five years, adding he hopes the Soldiers leave the course confident in their abilities.

“They should be confident and comfortable in priorities of care,” Engel said. “It should be reflexive and they should immediately know what to do.”

The Soldiers are in Ukraine as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. Their mission is to support and mentor Ukrainian instructors at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center in Western Ukraine.

Ukrainian units arrive at the CTC and are taught individual, platoon, company and battalion-level tasks by Ukrainian trainers. The 45th has been at the CTC since January and has seen three Ukrainian battalions cycle through. It is between those rotations that the Soldiers find opportunities to train themselves.

“It’s important to do this whenever we can,” Engel said. “This inter-[rotation] period opened an opportunity for us to keep our skills sharp.”

One of the Thunderbirds in the course is Spc. Zachary Bolding, a Soldier with Company A, 1st Bn., 279th Inf. Regt. from Coweta, Oklahoma.

Bolding, who has been to a CLS class before deploying, said the class helps build soldiers’ confidence in themselves and the medics they work with.

“This is the best class I’ve had. There’s been a lot of hands-on training and we’ve been able to feel all the objects and the things we’d use when helping the medics,” Bolding said. “This helps us see the medics’ point of view. Seeing everything they do is good for everyone.”

• Date Taken: 10.05.2017
• Date Posted: 10.09.2017 15:54
• Story ID: 251009
• Location: YAVORIV, UA
• Hometown: COWETA, OK, US
• Hometown: OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, US
• Hometown: SAND SPRINGS, OK, US
• Hometown: STILLWATER, OK, US
• Hometown: TULSA, OK, US