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Next generation of combat care starts here

  • Published
  • By U.S. Army Spc. Alex Kirk Amen
  • 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The sun beamed with intensity as a Soldier struggled to pull his partner away from the gunfight. He needed to begin performing life-saving measures on a gunshot wound to his battle buddy's upper right thigh.

The sweat on his brow as he began applying the hasty tourniquet was real, but the injury was not.

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 312th Combat Service/Combat Service Support Regiment were certifying as Combat Lifesavers here.

The constantly evolving Army Combat Lifesaver course is the foundation of battlefield first aid, created to train the average Soldier in lifesaving trauma aid.

"The three big killers are massive bleeding, collapsed lungs and blocked airways," said U.S. Army Sgt. Phillip N. Rowland, a licensed nurse practitioner with 2-312th, 174th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division East, who originally joined the Army in 1977. "Back then it was strictly the ABC's, airway, breathing and circulation. We now understand we can save more lives by controlling massive hemorrhaging."

Rowland, a Coraopolis, Pa., native, was one of the soldiers who led the CLS training July 12.

The training showed Soldiers how to deal with the three big killers via quick-clot bandages, needle-chest decompressions and nasopharyngeal airway tubes (or nose trumpets).

The living doctrine that is CLS, changes with the Army's battlefields and with the tactics of the enemy. The Army has evolved the CLS course based on the types of inuries suffered by casualties during the war on terrorism. From the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, preventable deaths due to extremity wounds went from nine to 44 percent, according to the Army CLS course book. Drastic statistics like these led the Army to a doctrinal change requiring much more emphasis on tourniquets and hemorrhage clotting.

"My first CLS course was in basic training in 2010," said U.S. Army Spc. Tyler D. Wood, a light wheel mechanic with 1st Battalion, 322th Regiment, Logistical Support Battalion, 72nd Field Artillery Brigade, First Army Division East. "Now we don't stick people anymore," referring to learning how to insert an IV needle into someone for fluid transfers.

"There's a lot of nerves in a combat situation; you're better off trying to stop the bleeding," added Wood, a Buford, Ga., native.

The CLS course is something these Soldiers continually train in order to stay proficient.

"It's a good skill to have and we recertify every year to keep the training fresh," said Wood.

The Army heavily stresses CLS training and rcertification.

"I personally have never been in a position where I had to use this task," said 2-312 Battalion Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph H. Dupont, "But it's an important skill set to have."

Dupont, a Rockwood, Pa., native, joined the Army in 1984 and has seen many changes in the CLS course since then.

"One specific piece of training I've noticed from being on the ground is the needle-chest decompression," added Dupont.

The needle-chest decompression training combats collapsed lungs and is especially important because 23 percent of combat injuries are suffered in the torso.

"The ability to get soldiers the medical assistance they need far outweighs what it was in the 1980s," said Dupont. "They've come along way."

The 2-312th mission is to mobilize, train and assess reserve component CS/CSS units by enhancing individual and unit readiness to meet directed peacetime or wartime requirements. The battalion is scheduled to mobilize in 2013 here in accordance with the Army Forces Generation model.