Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Sgt. Richard Roberts, a combat medic from Grand Prairie, Texas, of the 877th...... read more read more
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – U.S. Army soldiers of Task Force Sword participated in Medical Education and Demonstration of Individual Competence (MEDIC) Table training in mid-October.
MEDIC Table training consists of eight tables that cover subjects such as dealing with collapsed lungs, bone fractures and severe bleeding. The first seven tables include 48 hours of classroom training and hands-on training which culminates in table eight, a validation lane.
Army combat medics are required to complete MEDIC Table training once a year to maintain their Emergency Medical Technician certification. Staff Sgt. Robert Simison, the TF Sword senior medic from Plant City, Fla., led the training for TF Sword medics at the Medical Simulation Training Center located at Bagram Air Field.
“Army medics are very trauma-focused, and in most cases, very comfortable with their trauma skill set,” explained Simison. “This training is focused on refreshing the skills not commonly used on a daily basis, while reinforcing the critical trauma skills, which are some of the most perishable.”
The MSTC provided the classrooms, training lanes and “Hollywood” quality makeup to make the casualties look as realistic as possible.
“This training is relevant to my job as a medic here in Afghanistan and to my job as an EMT-I (Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate) in Atlanta,” said Sgt. Richard Roberts from Ozark, Ala., of the 877th Engineer Company, TF Dolch, TF Sword.
The medics completed table one through seven in the first four days of training. On the fifth day all four medics completed table eight, which consisted of lane one, where each combat medic was required to treat two casualties at once. Each casualty had multiple wounds from an explosion from an improvised explosive device.
During lane two, the combat medics worked in pairs to treat a single casualty and perform a high angle extraction using a litter.
By the end of the week, all the medics expressed a greater confidence in their medical skill, saying they enjoyed the training and felt much more comfortable with their medical skill set.
Simison summed up his take on organizing and conducting training, “We are a very deployment focused Army right now. As we gear down the efforts in theater, we need to put focus back on quality, realistic and relevant training to maintain the delicate skill set of our modern-day medics. That is what we have done here this week.”
| Date Taken: | 10.12.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.15.2011 07:41 |
| Story ID: | 81423 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,103 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Army medics receive intense annual training downrange, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
