Sucking Chest Wounds and Salad

The Army has seen fit to give me a new set of skills this week.  Today marks my completion of combat lifesaver training....no big deal for Joe...but for me....an accomplishment.  I've found that everything in the Army runs in cycles and first aid is no different.  Many remember back in the day when tourniquets were frowned upon and the golden rule about applying a tourniquet was that once it was on, no one was allowed to take it off.

The Army has a new take on the tourniquet.  The tourniquet...much like wisdom teeth extraction....seems to be something the Army loves to promote now. According to the first aid instructors, the tourniquet is now the first thing that is applied if a patient is bleeding.  I can not tell you all how excited I am that Joe has been instructed to apply a tourniquet to me if I am bleeding.  Understand that combat life saver training is taught to the lowest level and that Joe may not be able to determine if I actually need a tourniquet or not.

The Army has also begun shying away from teaching combat lifesavers how to place an IV into a patients arm.  The problem in combat was that soldiers were too busy trying to find a vein to start an IV and were neglecting the patient.  Pretty sound logic right?  Well now the focus of the training seemed to be on placing the nasal flange in the patients nose to secure an airway along with jabbing a six inch 15 gauge needle into the patients chest in the second clavicle region to relieve pressure in the chest....again I'm not sure I want Joe sticking a needle in my chest.

I did get one golden nugget from the first aid instructor today....who happened to be an E5 with 10 years in the Army (something doesn't add up there).  He said "The best medicine is effective fire on the enemy."  I think I can agree with that.

So tonight I celebrated my combat life saver graduation with attendance at the 1-2 IN Battalion hail and farewell.  The unit saw fit to welcome me properly with some well timed, although cliche jokes about aviators.  I received a coin with my name on it and a nice beer stein...which is now in a box ready to mail home.  I really appreciated the gifts but I would have rather had a new compass or something else useful in combat...or even just my full per diem for my stay in Germany....that is another story.

The 1-2 IN Battalion traces its roots back to the War of 1812.  There motto is "Back in Black" and they are known as the Black Scarves....I'll let you look that up but your hint is a reference to Vietnam.

Tomorrow I am off to the engagement skills trainer to refresh my long gun shooting skills.

Take Care.

S.