Photo By Scott Sturkol | U.S. Navy Corpsmen with 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines (2/24) participate in a Valkyrie...... read more read more
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U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsmen assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines (2/24) participated in a Valkyrie Whole Blood Transfusion Course from July 25-27 during training at Fort McCoy.
The 2/24 is an infantry battalion based out of Chicago consisting of approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors. The battalion falls under the 24th Marine Regiment and the 4th Marine Division.
The training was part of the overall 2/24 training operations going on at Fort McCoy for two weeks in July on North Post. The training for this course was conducted in the classroom building at Range 18.
“Valkyrie is the whole blood transfusion program run by 1st Marine Division aboard Camp Pendleton (Calif.) that teaches all of their Corpsmen how to perform field blood transfusions,” said Medical Officer Navy Lt. Toby Keeney-Bonthrone with the 2/24’s Headquarters and Service Company. “It’s based on the program that the (Army) Rangers started. Units pre-screen who can give blood to whom. When someone needs blood, units find an available donor from their roster and that donor gives … blood that is then transfused to the recipient as quickly as possible.”
Keeney-Bonthrone, who helped coordinate the training, said having Corpsmen withing the 2/24 gain the skills from the course is critical and a good thing.
“It’s a hugely important skill for the future warfare environment where the ‘golden hour’ evacuation model — getting a casualty to a hospital less than an hour after injury — will no longer be feasible,” Keeney-Bonthrone said. “Short of performing surgery to fix their bleeding source, giving blood is the best thing you can do for a service member with combat injuries.”
The training given to the 2/24 Corpsmen was done by a three-person mobile training team, Keeney-Bonthrone said.
The mobile training team gave six of our reservist Corpsmen an abbreviated Valkyrie course,” he said. “They got them up to the level where the Reservists successfully tested out on performing basic transfusions in a battalion aid station setting where they take blood safely out of a donor, handle the blood safely, transfuse safely into a recipient, and treat anyone who has a reaction to a donation or transfusion. In this training environment, the donor was also the recipient. In future full iterations of the course, my Corpsmen will also be tested on performing transfusions in a ‘care under fire’ scenario like their active-duty counterparts.”
In a story on www.marines.mil from Feb. 2, 2021, by Sgt. Sarah Stegall with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit about similar training entitled, “Valkyrie: Emergency fresh whole blood transfusion enhances 15th MEU medical capabilities,” it further describes what training in a longer Valkyrie course might entail.
“During the five-day course of the program, Corpsmen train with volunteer blood donors,” the story states. “They draw blood into a donor bag, and transfuse the blood right back into the volunteer. This process takes 10 to 15 minutes. …. In a real-life event, a Marine assisting would draw the blood and the Corpsman would administer the blood drawn to the patient in critical condition.
“Blood drawn on scene is also known as pre-hospital blood,” the article states. “Service members injured in combat wait an average of 36 minutes for casualty evacuation aircraft. The medical care provided between the time of injury and casualty evacuation, including pre-hospital blood transfusions when required, significantly reduces the mortality rates according to research cited in the Joint Trauma System Clinical Practice Guideline on Damage Control Resuscitation.”
Corpsmen with the 2/24 also held a combat casualty care training exercise on Fort McCoy’s North Post on July 22-23 as part of their annual training at the installation.
Learn more about the Marine Corps by visiting https://www.marines.mil. Learn more about the Navy by visiting https://www.navy.mil.
Fort McCoy was established in 1909 and its motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2022 14:05 |
| Story ID: | 426631 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 299 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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