Kirkuk, Iraq (May 13, 2006) " For medics in Iraq, staying ready plays a major role in providing care for the wounded and injured.
Like infantrymen, medics train continuously so that when the time comes to do their job they can perform the job without hesitation. Despite being deployed to Iraq, medics continue to train.
Fourteen Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, currently stationed in Kirkuk, participated in an extensive multi-week Emergency Medical Technician registry course in order to gain certification, or to complete re-certification.
The EMT course is just one third of the training medics need to be considered fully qualified; the other two thirds include a course on tactical combat casualty care (or TC3) and medic school.
"It's important that these guys get certified for the EMT course because it's a mandate that all 91 Whiskeys have it," said Sgt. 1st Class Percy L. Brothers, Brigade Medical Operations non-commissioned officer and Seafeord, Del., native. "It's going to make these medics better medics."
Although TC3 is the primary medical care technique used here, due to the abundance of bleeding injuries in combat zones, medics in the course believe that the EMT portion is essential to their training and offers them more robust techniques for patient care due the focus on airway management.
"Not all injuries in Iraq are combat related," said Spc. Steven L. Pearson, a line medic with A Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion and Jacksonville, Fla., native. "What this portion of our training does is give us a refresher on the basics of patient care. But, this training is important to keep up to date on. You don't want to have to pull a notebook out in combat to see what you're supposed to be doing."
While medics taking the course consider this primarily refresher material, the 44 topics in EMT can be intimidating for Soldiers that aren't medics. In fact, four of the 14 in the class have no previous medical training.
"I plan on making a career out of the military, and I'm interested in the medical field," said Spc. Philip Patton, an engineer with A Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion and Cincinnati, Ohio native. "So, when our first sergeant said that there were some extra slots for this training, I jumped at the opportunity."
Patton was thrust into the EMT course with a severe disadvantage; he had no prior medical experience other than basic first aid. Learning the 44 topics, which are broken into several broad categories, like patient assessment, airway management, and bleeding control, would be a difficult task, but a task that will reward him in his military career as well as in the field, should his medical training be needed.
"I started from zero basically," Patton explained. "The medics are already at 10. So, I'm basically starting from scratch. I don't mind the challenge though; this is going to help me be a better Soldier. I would suggest everyone take this course if the opportunity presents itself."
After taking many classes and undergoing almost as many practical hands-on exercises, Soldiers in the EMT course will take a registry test and, if they pass, they'll be EMT certified. But the piece of paper won't make a difference on the battlefield; it will be the training they've gone through that will help them save a life should the need arise.
"We don't teach for the test," Brothers emphasized. "The information I'm putting out you might not see on the test, but on the battlefield. The training is the important thing here, because we go out there and save lives. You've got to know what you are doing when you have someones life in your hands."
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