Day 33: Combat Medic

This week has been dedicated to Advanced CLS (see day 26 for Basic CLS details) which is for medical folks including doctors, medics, nurses, PAs or anyone else interested in advanced combat medicine training. It started out with the usual parade of powerpoint slides followed by some laid back, hands-on training in wound packing, splinting, and advanced emergency procedures for airway and vascular access then the real fun began!

Wound packing practice

The advanced CLS course incorporates simulated battlefield conditions (rifle-fire, being shot at by paintballs, smoke grenades, and high tech dummies that have pulses and even bleed!) while being required to perform a variety of emergency procedures. These procedures include securing airways (using a "nose hose", combitube, and/or cricothyroidotomy), placing sternal interosseous (IO) catheters (shoving a large needle into the sternum to administer IV fluids...any volunteers?), performing proper tourniquet placement, placing and starting IVs, and performing needle decompression for a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). I had to perform all of these procedures in 15 minutes or less wearing 35 pounds of body armor, in a pitch dark room full of smoke, with multiple instructors yelling ?*@!?** and pointing out how my patient was dying! It makes for a more stressful yet delightful learning experience.

Practicing sternal IO access

Sternal IO access obtained!

I am humbled by this experience as this type of medicine is a whole new level of patient care. The combat medics and navy corpsman who are saving lives at the expense of their own have my deepest respect. Although my chances of being in a direct, live-fire combat situation are small...I hope that I will be able to answer the call of duty with the same courage as my medics.

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13 NASB