Medics trained in fire rescues

Courtesy Photo | Pfc. Ryan Estrada, a medic with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, uses the "Jaws of Life" to remove a door from a burned-out training vehicle. Soldiers practiced fire rescue, and vehicle extraction with the Rustamiyah Fire Department May 18. (U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Ryan Wood, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment)  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

05.23.2007

Courtesy Story

1st Cavalry Division

By 2nd Lt. Ryan Wood
2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment

FORWARD OPERATING BASE RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq -- Flames jump from the engine of a stricken van as the windshield turns black and shatters in the heat.

Sgt. Alfredo Garza of San Antonio, a medic with 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, rushes to the blazing vehicle, extinguisher in hand, and flings open the door.

The initial blast of heat surrounds him, but getting to the injured person overrides any fear. With a hiss, the extinguisher knocks down the flames. A firefighter standing next to the door nods, congratulates the Soldier and then throws more paper and wood onto the fire.

This is not the story of firefighters gone bad, but of a day of training not usually seen in Iraq. Medics from the 2-16th and the 2nd Brigade Support Battalion gathered to improve their skills in vehicle fire suppression, patient extraction and mechanical extraction with the Rustamiyah Fire Department May 18.

Using an abandoned van, the Soldiers practiced proper techniques for approaching and defeating vehicle fires. Later, they worked with a combat vehicle to practice extracting patients from combat-damaged vehicles.

"With the threats that we face outside the wire," Garza said, "we are encountering most of our injuries in vehicles. This training improves our ability to react to the situations instinctively."

According to Garza, who is the noncommissioned officer in charge of the 2-16th's Evacuation Squad, training troops to handle vehicle fires and extractions is a necessity.

"This sort of training allows us to balance speed with necessity. We can better fight the fire, immobilize the patient and extract them from the vehicle as a team," he said. "We have improved our skills and thereby improved the care and protection we can offer our Soldiers."

In one of the scenarios, Soldiers work under a blazing sun in 107-degree weather to extract two patients from a humvee. The radios, tight seating, and piles of ammunition and gear work against the Soldiers, but with the training provided by the paramedics, the Soldiers were able to cut minutes off the extraction time while moving the patients in a safer manner.

Spc. Kisha Rasheeda Lloyd of Fort Valey, Ga., a medic with the 2nd BSB, saw immediate value in the training, as it pertained to receiving injured patients at the Rustamiyah Aid Station.

"There have been a lot of times," she said, "when a patient rolled up to the hospital in a combat vehicle and I thought, 'Wow, how are we going to get this person out without causing more injuries?' Now we have the skills."

To cap the event, firefighters broke out the fire hoses, air tanks, and hydraulic tools and trained the Soldiers in mechanical vehicle extractions.

Along with the "Jaws of Life," the medics used hydraulic hammers, steel cutters, saws and other tools to access the training vehicle from all points.

"Putting on the gear, knocking down the fire with the fire hose, tearing the vehicle up, it was like being on TV," Lloyd said. "And we still got the skills needed to help people out."

• Date Taken: 05.23.2007
• Date Posted: 05.23.2007 10:55
• Story ID: 10487
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ