Photo By Tech. Sgt. Carly Feliciano | U.S. Army Capt. Mathew Rodgers, emergency room nurse assigned to the 759th Forward...... read more read more
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FILADELFIA, Paraguay – U.S. Army and Air Force medics and Paraguayan first responders participated in a joint Tactical Combat Casualty Care course led by medical personnel supporting Phase II of the AMISTAD24 medical assistance mission in Filadelfia, Paraguay, Aug. 3, and teamed up to immediately apply those skills as they responded to a severe trauma case at Hospital Materno Infantil Villa Choferes, Aug. 4.
The course, which was held in a local police station, was attended by 25 Paraguayan National Police officers from across the region and covered an array of topics ranging from how to apply a tourniquet to opening airways and addressing hypothermia in both hands-on scenarios and lecture format.
It also represented the first time a course of this type has been delivered to Paraguayan partners by U.S. military medics.
“[TCCC] is extremely important for our daily work, which is the internal security of the nation,” said First Officer Jorge Saldivar, chief of intelligence for the Boquerón police department.
“Many times we find ourselves in very complicated, very dangerous scenarios, and this makes one have more security, and guarantee that if a colleague of ours is the victim of an attack, of an injury, then we can, at least, help and practice the first aid to save their life,” he said.
Through the use of five English and Spanish-speaking interpreters, police officers received information that would help them carry out their daily duties, said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Maria Falgiani, opthalmic technician assigned to the 355th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
Falgiani, who was born in Brazil and also speaks Portuguese, leveraged her knowledge of the Spanish language to serve as an interpreter for the course.
“I feel that it’s important for everyone to know at least the basics,” said Falgiani. “For them, being cops, they’re the first ones who show up to a scene, so they can stop [issues] before ambulances are called or medics arrive.”
Lead instructor for the course U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Brattin, operating room non-commissioned officer assigned to the 759th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment (Airborne), 44th Medical Brigade at Fort Liberty, N.C., also emphasized the critical importance of TCCC.
“TCCC is something that I kind of have a passion for teaching and doing, because I feel that it elevates people,” said Brattin. “Nobody wants to walk by if something bad happens and watch that person bleed out….If there was a way to teach TCCC to every citizen, I would.”
The course served as an additional opportunity for U.S. and Paraguayan partners to collaborate during AMISTAD24, which is a broader four week-long, multi-phase medical assistance mission, during which U.S. doctors, nurses, medical technicians and support personnel share expertise, treat local patients, and discuss best practices alongside Paraguayan counterparts.
It was the combination of recent hands-on training, knowledge, and good timing that brought the usefulness of TCCC into sharp focus for both U.S. and Paraguayan partners Aug. 4, when a Paraguayan National Police officer assigned to a nearby city and his partner brought a local man who had been injured by a machete in a dispute to the hospital where the joint U.S. medical team is treating patients.
U.S. Army Capt. Mathew Rodgers, one of two lead instructors for the course and 759th FRSD emergency room nurse, stepped outside the hospital to receive the patient, and attributed the officers’ effective response to their use of basic TCCC skills.
“When the truck pulled up to the hospital with [the patient] inside, they were applying direct pressure to his neck. As soon as they took off that pressure, there was blood everywhere,” said Rodgers. “That direct pressure is something we went over and emphasized in the course.”
The incident underscored the value of TCCC skills in day-to-day operations, as the responding officers played a critical role in bringing the patient to the hospital.
The medics worked for two hours to stabilize and perform surgery on the patient, who was later released from the hospital in good condition.
According to Rodgers, the use of TCCC methodology on the injured man was critical, and he hopes that the situation reinforced its importance.
“Thankfully, we were able to save his life.”
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2024 16:49 |
| Story ID: | 478030 |
| Location: | FILADELFIA, PY |
| Web Views: | 139 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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