thedrifter
06-30-06, 08:03 AM
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan (June 30, 2006) -- As blood flows steadily from a crimson exit wound, determined hands reach inside a first-aid kit for the tools used to bring brothers back from the brink of death.
Corpsmen with the III Marine Expeditionary Force's Special Operations Training Group Medical Branch, 3rd Marine Division's 12th Marines Regiment and 3rd Marine Logistics Group instructed 16 Marines in life-saving techniques during the Tactical Combat Casualty Care Course June 23 on Camp Hansen's Range 16.
"The course is based on what corpsmen and Marines have seen on the battlefield," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Dustin B. Jones, a corpsman with 12th Marines.
Jones explained that the course teaches Marines to deal first with the three most treatable causes of death on the battlefield: massive hemorrhaging, a compromised airway or a collapsed lung.
The course replaced outdated first-aid training with procedures more relevant to combat zones, such as using a tourniquet in case of hemorrhaging and calling in casualty and medical evacuation reports, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Kevin W. Barnhart, a Tactical Combat Casualty Care instructor with SOTG who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
"It's set up for all different types of Marines, whether individually augmented or part of a battalion," Barnhart said. "We teach them to break bad habits and practice the new ways of casualty care."
The two-day course consisted of one day of classroom presentations and one day of practical applications.
The instructors divided the Marines into three groups. The groups tested their newly gained skills by rotating through stations and responding to different injury scenarios, such as sucking chest wounds, extremity hemorrhages, burns and head fractures.
During the simulations, the Marines treated wounds, moved the casualties to landing zones and then called in patient evacuations. The instructors critiqued the Marines' performance after each event.
After the Marines worked through the scenarios, only their final test remained. The Marines entered simulated hostile territory and had to retrieve two injured comrades. Along the way, the instructors detonated artificial improvised explosive devices and designated certain Marines out of play with injuries that their fellow squad members had to treat.
The training went beyond what the Marines had received at their basic training, according to 1st Lt. Edward Rushing, a combat engineer with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines currently serving as the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit's Battalion Landing Team.
"Knowing how to treat the three most common treatable causes of death (on the battlefield) is absolutely essential," Rushing said. "I think the instructors did an excellent job, and I think we're much more prepared now than we were before."
Ellie
Corpsmen with the III Marine Expeditionary Force's Special Operations Training Group Medical Branch, 3rd Marine Division's 12th Marines Regiment and 3rd Marine Logistics Group instructed 16 Marines in life-saving techniques during the Tactical Combat Casualty Care Course June 23 on Camp Hansen's Range 16.
"The course is based on what corpsmen and Marines have seen on the battlefield," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Dustin B. Jones, a corpsman with 12th Marines.
Jones explained that the course teaches Marines to deal first with the three most treatable causes of death on the battlefield: massive hemorrhaging, a compromised airway or a collapsed lung.
The course replaced outdated first-aid training with procedures more relevant to combat zones, such as using a tourniquet in case of hemorrhaging and calling in casualty and medical evacuation reports, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Kevin W. Barnhart, a Tactical Combat Casualty Care instructor with SOTG who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
"It's set up for all different types of Marines, whether individually augmented or part of a battalion," Barnhart said. "We teach them to break bad habits and practice the new ways of casualty care."
The two-day course consisted of one day of classroom presentations and one day of practical applications.
The instructors divided the Marines into three groups. The groups tested their newly gained skills by rotating through stations and responding to different injury scenarios, such as sucking chest wounds, extremity hemorrhages, burns and head fractures.
During the simulations, the Marines treated wounds, moved the casualties to landing zones and then called in patient evacuations. The instructors critiqued the Marines' performance after each event.
After the Marines worked through the scenarios, only their final test remained. The Marines entered simulated hostile territory and had to retrieve two injured comrades. Along the way, the instructors detonated artificial improvised explosive devices and designated certain Marines out of play with injuries that their fellow squad members had to treat.
The training went beyond what the Marines had received at their basic training, according to 1st Lt. Edward Rushing, a combat engineer with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines currently serving as the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit's Battalion Landing Team.
"Knowing how to treat the three most common treatable causes of death (on the battlefield) is absolutely essential," Rushing said. "I think the instructors did an excellent job, and I think we're much more prepared now than we were before."
Ellie