Everybody will stick, and everybody will get stuck.

Manic Moran

The CLS Mantra.

As I'm here in sunny Camp Bob undergoing a month or so of training, (And as an aside, I'm going to kill whichever politician, either military or in Congress decided to make us wear so much bloody armour: I thought it was bad when I went to Iraq, they've added more since), one of the courses they're having us go through is Combat Life Saver. Pretty much everyone in the whole squadron, from the Colonel to the lowest trooper goes through it.

Well, suffice it to say I've come to a few conclusions.

Firstly, there is great incentive to not getting shot. It's not the wounding that's the problem, if you're shot, you're shot, it's over and done with, deal with it. It's all the crap that they do to you afterwards, varying from shoving hoses up your nose and down your throat to all the various types of needles they jab into you. What was more disturbing was that the guy who we shoved the hose up seemed more than happy with it.

Secondly, I've concluded that I'm a far better tanker than I am a medic. I know more than a human should know about tanks, but know a lot less than a human probably should know about humans. Worse, I've also concluded I'm not very good with a needle. Firstly, there's the confidence problem. You can imagine what it's like to lie down on the ground with the guy about to stick you looking over the needles going "OK, this one goes to the syringe... this looks like a catheter needle... now how does this go into the saline lock again?" Then, just before I stuck my poor victim, I said something along the lines of "For what I am about to do to you, I apologise."

Good stick the first time, hit the vein. Sadly, I advanced a little too far, I think I went out the other side. Crap. Pull out, try again. Bandage him up, look for another vein. Got it the second time. I'm very happy to say that my counterpart seems to have been a born natural. He got my vein first time. Mind you, I still wasn't overly enthralled about the whole "Here, have a catheter and drip" requirement.

By the end of the day, some poor schmucks had gotten stuck three or four times.

I guess it's a good thing to know, but if the CO is sticking IVs into people, something has gone somewhat wrong: I think overall if I come across a casualty I'll just slap the tourniquet on, yell "Medic!!!" and get back to shooting people.

NTM

iceage

Spooky Manic, that makes it all a bit real Hopefully you won't have to many occasions where these skills will come to the fore, but very impressed in the amount of preparation you guys are getting. The line "you'll feel a little prick" springs to mind..... in the nicest possible way I meant the needle of course.:)

diverdriver

I'd never be a medic. I'm with you on this one. I'd just look feel sick and shout 'medic'. Unless I was in the Marines. But having just read a book called 'Tankmen' with it's vivid descriptions of what happens when an AP round goes through a turret. I'd never be a tanker either.

The older I get the more REMF I would have preferred to be. Not that I need to worry anymore.

Duffers

Thanks for that Manic, f.ing brilliant post
Keep low, move fast have a good tour and all that. How long will you be out for?

Fishtits

Manic, welcome to the real world. :rolleyes:

Keep it up.

Leadership

I was forced to do 13 week combat medic course many years ago due to the role I was in. We had great fun jabbing needles in each other to put a drip in and pretending to inject adrenaline in each other.

In Bosnia a few later I tried to stick a drip in a casualty who was hit with shrapnel. I discovered that once the body goes into shock and with less blood pumping through your veins without experience you have little chance of putting a line in. You will in fact cause more discomfort by giving the casualty more holes than the local pub dart board!

The British army soon gave up on that idea and instead of training the emergency response units to be medics they attached a experienced medic to each team.

trellheim

What happens if the medic gets shot ?

Manic Moran

Easy. Fill out a DA Form 2733, Personnel Action Form, in triplicate, send one copy to the S-1, keep one for yourself, and one to the S-3, requisitioning a new medic.

NTM