| Iraqi Medical Personnel Learn Advanced Pre-Hospital Care By SPC Burney, 3IBCT PAO 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 25th Infantry Division CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, TIKRIT, Iraq – Focusing on quickly transporting patients to the nearest hospital for treatment and stabilization is an excellent, reachable goal – but, after all this effort, what if they die en route? Soldiers of 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division partnered with the Iraqi Ministry of Health to provide a series of training events geared toward creating an emergency medical system program and improving efficiency in pre-hospital care for civilian health professionals from the Tikrit General Hospital and 4th Iraqi Army Division medical personnel. “Our focus of pre-hospital care will definitely save a lot of lives and give our medical professionals a lot of help as we go out and provide health service to our people in Salah ad-Din,” said an Iraqi civilian medical provider. The medical training, which is taught in a train-the-trainer forum, is five weeks long, and is taught two days per week for Iraqi medical personnel. About 10-15 Iraqi health care providers attend a typical session. “Iraqi medical professionals are really good at hospital care. An area of improvement for them is their on-site treatment,” said Capt. Ulue Porter, company commander, Co. C, 325th Bde Support Bn, 3rd Inf Bde Combat Team, 25th Inf. Div. “When an improvised explosive device or suicide bomber goes off within the city, and Iraqi citizens are injured, it’s the immediate amount and quality of care that needs to be performed at the site of injury that makes all the difference in saving lives. This is where we are assisting Iraqi medical personnel,” he continued. The partnership between Coalition Forces and the Iraqi Ministry of Health to facilitate training for the Iraqi health care provider’s emergency medical technician team started in the beginning of March, according to Staff Sgt. Grace David, noncommissioned officer in charge of medical training and education, 325 BSB. The hands-on training regimen consists of initial scene and patient assessment, to include proper scene evaluation procedures before providing medical treatment, proper patient loading procedures, and ongoing assessment of patients en route to the hospital. Iraqi medical technicians also learned pain assessment techiques, surgical techniques, how to handle motor vehicle accidents, blast injuries, IED injuries and are challenged through exercises geared toward improving effective mass casualty procedures. “Every time these Iraqi professionals return from a previous training session, they explain to me that they have applied the knowledge learned in their medical procedures and have benefited from the experience. This is the rewarding aspect of my job – I get to see the results of my labor,” said David. The Iraqi participants expressed similar sentiments regarding this valuable training opportunity. “The training that we are being provided will definitely show its worth when I return to our Iraqi Soldiers. This is my seventh training opportunity which makes me well rounded in providing the type of care to assist my fellow Soldiers when they are in need,” said Cpl. Muhamed, Iraqi medic, 4th Motor Transportation Regiment, 4th IA Div. ——————- MilitaryConnection.com thanks you for your patronage. This web site is a portal of all things military, and we are quickly becoming the “go to” web site for all things military. We are constantly adding resources, content and features to benefit our audience. Our web site and all of the resources are free to users, and there is something for everyone. Additionally, we feature nursing articles like this to keep you informed. If you belong to a group or organization, we will post your press releases, special events, newsletters, professional conferences and seminars, reunions, job fairs, and videos to help spread the word. One of the areas of our focus is connecting candidates from the military community with outstanding government and civilian employers. We know that candidates from the military community across the board have a work ethic second to none. They make highly valued employees. MilitaryConnection.com has a multitude of employment resources including a Directory of over 30,000 employers, Job Tips, Columns, our new and improved Job Board, Virtual Job Fair and much more. We understand the importance of education. Please check out our new Education section, featuring the most up to date information on the new GI Bill, Education Articles, Education Benefits, and the Scholarship Directory featuring thousands of scholarships. When the next tour is back home, it’s on MilitaryConnection.com. |