Article

2007-02-06 Iraq

Combat Lifesaver Course Saves Marine Lives

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Posted by Bobby 2007-02-06 06:07|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Now this makes about as much sense as anything I have heard in a long time. Way to go Marines... I hope that eventually this will become an integral part of all Marines basic training!

Posted by Blackvenom-2001 2007-02-06 08:55|| 2007-02-06 08:55|| Front Page Top

#2 Can we add this course to all US High Schools?

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2007-02-06 10:40|| 2007-02-06 10:40|| Front Page Top

#3 Learned that in the Boy Scouts, sur prises e that they're just now teaching it to Marines, We also got this in Boot Camp.

This should have been done years ago.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2007-02-06 10:41|| 2007-02-06 10:41|| Front Page Top

#4 CPR, basic & advanced first aid, & a practical knowledge of human anatomy related to the foregoing should be a requirement of all high school graduates. Fat chance of that happening.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-02-06 10:53|| 2007-02-06 10:53|| Front Page Top

#5 According to my friend Sgt Havey who served in Iraq over a year ago this was SOP for his Army unit.

Posted by Deacon Blues 2007-02-06 12:06|| 2007-02-06 12:06|| Front Page Top

#6 I think the course they are describing here is a little bit more then just basic or advanced first aid. From the sounds of it... it's combat trauma oriented. By focusing purely on combat trauma they can deal with things in such a manner that soldiers will remember their training.

For instance the average person that goes through an EMT class will forget 60% of their traning within 1 year if they do not put the training into practice, or review the training every so often...

Marines are no different... most of them are not going to be focusing on battle field emergency care. They have other jobs to do...

In a class designed to deal with combat trauma... you can take the top 10 things that you want your Marines to remember and give them that information...

In these instances they don't need to have the knowledge of how to treat frostbite... no they need to know where to tie a touriquet, how to stop blood flow to a wound, and if they can teach the average marine how to give an IV... WOW! That's immediately useful info...

Just rambling about something that I find interesting...

Blackvenom-2001

Posted by Blackvenom-2001 2007-02-06 12:13|| 2007-02-06 12:13|| Front Page Top

#7 Agreed, it seems a lot more info than Boy Scouts or Boot Camp gives.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2007-02-06 13:01|| 2007-02-06 13:01|| Front Page Top

#8 Any of your people Pappy?

Posted by Shipman 2007-02-06 13:11|| 2007-02-06 13:11|| Front Page Top

#9 We have had this in the Army for a number of years now. It is much more than bacic CPR and first aid. Each squad went through it and had refresher training. We had one aid bag per squad.

The impressive thing was his off handed comment about seven minutes to medevac! It came across as seven minutes is a long time and that seven minutes is the standard. Folks a medevac in seven minutes is outstanding. HT to the med community for this standard! And I thought the Golden Hour was a great standard!

Posted by 49 Pan">49 Pan 2007-02-06 13:23|| 2007-02-06 13:23|| Front Page Top

#10 The US Army National Guard has really been pushing the CLC since 9/11. A friend of mine went through it in 2003, and got set for a refresher at the end of 2003 since his NG unit was scheduled for Iraq. The Oregon National Guard has been pushing all NCOs to have taken and passed this course.

Posted by Shieldwolf 2007-02-06 15:53|| 2007-02-06 15:53|| Front Page Top

#11 This is a lot more than CPR and basic first aid. It's about an extra 3 to 5 days of training, with the highlight being that everyone administers an IV with a saline-type solution.

Every Soldier, and I would assume every Marine, has to demonstrate proficiency in First Aid as part of initial entry training, and must be retrained and retested on this periodically. CLS is way above and beyond that. CLS includes being issued an extra bag, complete with IV + needles, latex gloves, burn ointment, flexible splint material, J-tube for insertion into the larynx (intubation or something like that). It's a fairly rigorous course with a fairly tough exam. Hard part is that pretty much everyone has to give and receive an IV - that right there washes out a lot of the wimps.

My unit had about a quarter of all personnel CLS qualified - this is in addition to the medics. CLS guys are really medics-lite as an additional duty, since the medics can't be everywhere, and someone has to be able to treat the medic if he gets hit. Since being a CLS is big promotion points for the Army, and you need someone who is going to get the job done under pressure, I usually sent only volunteers to the course, and selected those who weren't squeamish and had proven themselves. Usually team leaders/junior NCO/squared-away up-and-comers.

Posted by OIF 3 21B 2007-02-06 20:42|| 2007-02-06 20:42|| Front Page Top

#12 10% of my Det is CLS qualified. It is way beyond basic medical care learned at Recruit Training i.e. - stop the bleeding, start the breathing, protect the wound, treat for shock, etc. The new courses take into account the newest injuries often associated w/IED threats, etc.

Posted by Broadhead6 2007-02-06 20:50|| 2007-02-06 20:50|| Front Page Top

#13 BH 6,

What kind of Det are you in? I would assume you are the Det commander? If so, and you are in a deployment window, I would strongly encourage you to try to push your CLS-certified numbers to 25%-33% or so. 10% is not near enough to ensure that there is one around when you really need one.

Posted by OIF 3 21B 2007-02-06 21:31|| 2007-02-06 21:31|| Front Page Top

#14 Ship - yep.

Broader sense, they're all my people.

Posted by Pappy 2007-02-06 21:31|| 2007-02-06 21:31|| Front Page Top

#15 I saw that coming.

Posted by Shipman 2007-02-06 21:44|| 2007-02-06 21:44|| Front Page Top

#16 OIF 3 21B, Broadhead6 is a Marine, and he's going back shortly. Oh, and welcome! :-)

Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-06 22:26|| 2007-02-06 22:26|| Front Page Top

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