Combat medics use their skills to save lives

Photo By Sgt. Mitch Armbruster | Sgt. Peter Go, a combat medic with the 100-442nd Infantry Regiment, goes through the initial steps of preparing a patient for aid as a training exercise at LSA Anaconda.  

12.01.2005

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

Sgt. Mitch Armbruster
207th MPAD

Combat medics from the 100-442nd Infantry Regiment have seen a wide variety of injuries in the country of Iraq.

Six Soldiers waited patiently in line for a medic as a part of the morning sick call in the rear of the 100-442nd building on Logistical Support Area Anaconda.

The 100-442nd medics work in the small office behind the building, built from plywood and 2x4s to house them and their equipment. Their busy schedule has them spread thin, but they manage because they have a job to do.

"Like the other medics, I am jumping around every where," said Spc. Ronnie Agustin, a combat medic with 100-442nd.

Medics normally work in teams of 10. However, as Staff Sgt. Sheldon Smith, the medic's section sergeant explained, they don't have enough medics to operate this way. The teams of the 100-442nd consist of nine Soldiers. The teams run short on personnel.

"We are security and overwatch for our entire operating area," Smith said. "We have reconnaissance, escort or whatever missions the command has for us. You got to be a Soldier first, because if you're not a Soldier first then you can't survive out there."

Medics find themselves on missions that deal with a wide variety of jobs, but they know that they are there to save lives.

"Dealing with Soldiers that have been injured or died in combat has been the hardest thing about the deployment," Smith said. "Everything else is easy, everything else is basic soldiering skills and what we learned in basic training. The medical care is easy but actually having to see the reaction and how it affects other Soldiers is the hardest part."

Medics are crucial elements to infantry units.

"My Soldiers, for instance, have saved lives out there. They have been in some difficult situations where they have had to use their skills," Smith said.

Smith spent time in Iraq as an active duty Soldier with the 25th Infantry Division. After his active duty time was over, he transitioned into the Reserve and was cross-leveled into the 100-442nd from his home of Albany, N.Y. Smith has seen how the medical field works in the military and has spent time in the hospitals and in the field as a combat medic.

"Focus on the basics, a better trained medic and a highly deployed medic makes a more versatile medic," Smith said.

1st Lt. Daniel Copp, Medical platoon leader and battalion medical officer, has seen the mission evolve for his Soldiers.

"The past few months have been busy. In our line of work, that's not always a positive thing. We would rather put a band-aid on or help the nationals but we have gone further than that," Copp said.

These medics have earned Copp's respect.

"Having my guys save lives, knowing that they can do it and not distinguishing between who we are as medics. We provide aid to everyone," Copp said.

"At the 100th Battalion we are one. You can rely on our buddy next to you as much as you can the next person, someone you may have just met," Copp said. "We have 21 line medics along with office personnel that have strived hard from February of last year and I give great credit to them for stepping up when the mission called on us."

The combat medics attached to the 100-442nd have had a demanding deployment, but they have stepped up to overcome all that they have faced.

• Date Taken: 12.01.2005
• Date Posted: 12.01.2005 06:09
• Story ID: 3913