Photo By Staff Sgt. Francis Horton | English Warrant Officer Stuart Hopkinson of the 93rd Signal Squadron in Blackburn,...... read more read more
FORT MCCOY, Wis. — Training has started for the Soldiers of the 325th Combat Support Hospital, but rather than the hospital, they are finding themselves in the field.
Working with mannequins and fellow Soldiers dressed with various wounds, the medics are getting training outside of their normal military occupational specialties.
Before the mission starts, the medics are getting a refresher course on tactical combat casualty care with the 'wounded' Soldiers in the field. Among the practice missions are triage, litter carry and removing wounded from a vehicle.
"It's good to use live casualties because we can get feed back from them," Said Spc. Rochelle Towson, a licensed practical nurse with the 325th CSH. Instead of just a dummy with a tag telling the medics what is wrong with them, they have real people who require care and mannequins don't.
"Real people have actual needs," said Towson. Needs such as food and water, as well as calming down a patient with traumatic wounds.
The medics are also learning how to deal with rough terrain while carrying a wounded Soldier on a litter. Using teamwork and verbal commands, they traversed hills, valleys and woods, all while keeping the wounds of the Soldier they were carrying in mind. Once they reached their destination, they practiced calling in for a medical evacuation.
"It's a good refresher for us," said Spc. Andrew Lee, a medic with the 325th CSH. Normally, he would work in the CSH rather than as a field medic, but is required to be up to speed with his training on the battlefield.
During the Global Medic exercise, the medics of the 325th will have a much different mission.
"We'll be working in the Intermediate Care Ward," said Sgt. Tracy Fraser-Bingham, a medic with the 325th CSH. In this area, the Soldiers will be taking care of the wounded after immediate care and stabilization is done.
In this area, they will be giving medication, changing and dressing wounds and anything else required for the patients, Fraser-Bingham said.
The medics are excited about their training and realize just how important their jobs are, both in the field, and in the hospital
"We teach them how to live again," Fraser-Bingham said. "Anyone about to leave comes through us, and they live."
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2009 17:43 |
| Story ID: | 35181 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, US |
| Web Views: | 662 |
| Downloads: | 303 |
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