The 820th Base Defense Group Medical Cell hosted a Combat Lifesaver Course Dec. 10-16, here.
The course equips 820th BDG members with the ability to assist injured personnel until an independent duty medical technician can provide the patient with care.
“The future battle rhythm will have a longer time variation than we had in the global war on terror,” said Tech. Sgt. Paul King, 824th Base Defense Squadron IDMT. “We need to be able to provide deeper medical training, so Airmen who aren’t in the medical field can assist injured personnel until they can get a medic to them.”
The CLS course is based on the U.S. Army course and teaches students tactical combat casualty care. Students learn basic emergency medical technician skills, such as taking vital signs and maintaining the status of personnel.
“Students have a three-day tactical combat casualty care refresher,” King said. “It focuses on the big killers: massive hemorrhage and tension pneumothorax, a deflated lung. They are also taught how to maintain an airway if a patient is unconscious. They take a 60-question written test that encapsulates tactical combat casualty care, the Army’s CLS course [and] what we created for our BDG course.”
The course not only focuses on emergency skills, but it teaches students how to cooperate and apply what they learned in a stressful environment.
“We put simulated victims in a room, played gunfire and helicopter sounds and fill the area with smoke,” King said. “The scenario assesses how well the students can use the fundamentals of the course while their senses are thrown off.”
Once a student successfully completes the course they can be attached to an IDMT during training events and perform the some of the same duties a junior medic would.
“I had never actually put in an IV before this course, so to be able to do that successfully was an accomplishment,” said Airman 1st Class Byron McNeill, 823d BDS fireteam member. “[I learned] with stress it can get hectic, but as long as I fall back on my fundamentals, I’ll be able to save a person’s life or prolong their life so a medic can help them.”
According to King, being able to provide care to injured personnel is a unique skillset to have in security forces members and gives the unit a more complete warfighter.
“To be able to defend the base and secure assets, we need Airmen who can do more than just base defense,” King said. “We need people with specialized skills beyond their normal [jobs].”