KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Fifty-eight combat medic course students completed a hands-on field exercise on May 18. Afghan medical instructors conducted the exercise that tested lessons learned during their eight-week course at the Regional Military Training Center in Kandahar.
Several American medical mentors drizzled the victims in fake blood and applied prosthetic eye-balls, simulating a truck crash involving three people. They arranged the bodies and then stepped back to let the Afghan medics, both students and instructors, take the lead. Instructor Sgt. Esmail Shah Jahan was impressed with the way his medics dealt with the situation.
“They applied the tourniquets well,” he said. “The litter carrying, it was just like how I taught them in class.”
Only a few students were involved in the exercise. The remaining classmates cheered with the enthusiasm of watching a soccer match. They followed every move, from securing the casualties to the litters to transferring them to the “ambulances.” Despite making do with pickup trucks to evacuate the patients, Pvt. Hamid Abdul Karim wished the exercise had tested them in additional ways.
“It was really good. I really enjoyed it,” he said. “It’s like it was real and we got the experience of this mission, the training. We should also train with the medevac helicopter and ambulance. We should also learn about the pharmacy, prescribing medication.”
The field exercise was the final chapter to their combat medic course. The students graduated May 19. The class included both Afghan national army soldiers and Afghan National Civil Order Police.