Photo By Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Smith | Policemen with the 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division practice applying a...... read more read more
By Spc. Nathaniel Smith
4th BCT, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – Soldiers' ability to provide basic first aid to each other before reaching a medical facility has saved countless lives over the course of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Soldiers of Company C, 610th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division have teamed up with the 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Transition Team, also known as "Team Eagle," to teach a Combat Lifesaver's Course at Joint Security Station Doura in southern Baghdad, providing the INPs with the skills necessary to do the same.
Staff Sgt. Todd Young, the 7-2 NPTT medic from Columbus, Ohio, said the course is going to save lives.
"At every checkpoint, they should have a CLS bag. Somebody gets shot or somebody gets injured, that person's going to need to be treated," Young said. "We've found out from past experiences, if you stop the bleeding you have an 80 percent better chance of saving that person's life. If we can get everybody at every checkpoint to be CLS qualified, we can save lives better."
The four-day course covers patient assessment, identifying injuries, airway management, splinting, vehicle extraction, bleeding control and intravenous therapy over four days and is scheduled to take place once a month.
Young added that having 'shurta,' Arabic for police, equipped with these skills is better than their prior routine of simply putting the wounded in a truck and driving the nearest hospital, often resulting in death before the wounded could get treatment.
Spc. Christopher Lindsey, a medic with Co. C, 610th BSB from Houston, said the course is key to ensuring the wounded reach the level of care they need.
"Through these basic life-saving interventions we're teaching it's going to greatly increase the chances of their people staying alive," Lindsey said.
Sgt. Jason Kun, a medic with "Charlie-Med" from Silver Lake, Kan., said even though the course is similar to the U.S. Army's course, there were parts changed to fit challenges the INP's will face in Baghdad.
"We took standard American CLS and tried to tailor it and fit it with Iraqi cultural considerations and the education level," Kun said. "Certain areas that we focused on in American society, we shy away from and we'll delve more into practical and improvised techniques a lot more."
One of the main things that had to be changed, Kun said, was the use of dressings. Since the INP's don't have as easy access to specialized bandages, the instructors had to focus more on field dressings and basic first aid.
Lindsey, who said he has a passion for teaching, said the students' collective attitude makes the class easier and more fun to instruct.
"They want to be here and they want to learn; that's excellent," he said. "If you get a class of people that don't want to be there or don't take it seriously, it's very hard to give them that knowledge if they don't want it."
Kun, who has prior experience training Iraqis with Military Transition Teams in Al-Noa'amaniya, said the students get more out of the course because of the rapport the instructors have built with their pupils.
"There's been a comfort level that if they have a question they know they can ask, and they're not going to be looked down on for not knowing the answer," he said.
Young, a reservist who is tasked to the 7-2 NPTT from the 256th Combat Support Hospital based out of Columbus, Ohio, said ultimately, 'Team Eagle' would like to have Iraqis instructing the CLS course.
"That's going to be the goal. With the Warrior Leader's Course, I teach bleeding control, and I have my Iraqi counterpart there watching. During time off, we'll work so he can be teaching it, and he'll work with the CLS also; maybe start watching and then assisting and work his way up to teaching when he feels comfortable."
Lindsey said his part in instructing the course has been one of the most gratifying experiences of his deployment.
"I'm very excited about doing this. This is why we're here: to help the Iraqi people during this transition phase," he said. "You don't really get to do this in a (troop medical center). I'm actually elbow-deep in helping. It really is an awesome experience."
| Date Taken: | 12.02.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 12.03.2007 18:04 |
| Story ID: | 14390 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 163 |
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