Continual Training Saves Lives on The Battelfield

By Spc. Shantelle Campbell

4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 1st Infantry Division

TUZ, Iraq - Since the American Revolution, medics have been a prominent force on and off the battlefield.

In an article, written March 11 about a remembrance ceremony held in Arlington, Va., for medics who lost their lives while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Assistant Defense Secretary for Health Affairs, Dr. S Ward Casscells said, "The decisions these medics and doctors and nurses make on the battlefield are a triumph of the human spirit."

The medics of the 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., train diligently so they are ready for any situation.

"Last Saturday we trained our medics on how to give morphine," said Capt. Vivien Guevara, the physician assistant with HHC, 4/1 BSTB. "If this is all that we have here; then, they need to know how to alleviate the pain of those patients who are involved in [unfortunate incidents]."

Pfc. Heavenlee Jacobs, a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Infantry Division inserts an IV into the arm of Sgt. Paul L. Berkland, a medical noncommissioned officer with HHC, 4/1 BSTB during a medics training exercise. (Courtesy photo)

In addition to training the medics receive for themselves, Capt. Guevara said that her medics are also responsible for training the individual sections they are assigned to.

"They give the basic Combat Lifesaver classes to their respective sections like the [military police] and [personnel security detachment] platoons," said Capt. Guevara. "Our medics also train their sections on how to properly give an IV and use the new tourniquets."

"It's very important to train each section because they only have one medic and everyone is supposed to be CLS qualified, but the CLS qualified individuals are only capable of giving basic first aid," she added.

The constant training and refurbishing of skills paid off when one of the trucks a "Wolverine" battalion's convoy was hit by a RKG-3 anti-tank grenade.

"When we talked to her, she mentioned to us that she was thinking about the process," said Sgt. Paul L. Berkland, a medical noncommissioned officer with HHC, 4/1 BSTB referring to Pvt. Brandi Hunter, a medic with HHC, 4/1 BSTB who was the medic on scene when the incident occurred. "We were really pleased in how she reacted ... it was on the spot and she did exactly what she needed to do."

"With new Soldiers you really don't know how they are going to react," said Sgt. Berkland. "But when we see reactions like Hunter's, it really [makes us proud] to know that she kept what she learned in [advanced individual training] and what we've taught her through training at [the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.] and just reacted."

"If you don't use your skills, then you risk losing them," said Capt. Guevara. "So, we keep training our medics so they will continue to hold on to them."