Combat Life Saver

Today was Day 1 for my platoon going through the Combat Life Saver (CLS) course. For the most part the training was a review of the First Aid training we took while at Camp Dodge. The training was in usual Army fashion, PowerPoint presentations followed by hands-on practice of what we went over. It was fun, educational, and beneficial. While I really have no desire to be a CLS, I am happy we are getting the training as it goes more indepth than our basic First Aid training does.

Much of the First Aid procedures have not changed in the years since I first enlisted. Muscle memory for these activities is such that I could probably sleep through administering aid and still do so correctly (not that I would). However some things have changed. For starters we now apply a tourniquet right away under some circumstances. In its infinite wisdom the Army has found a tourniquet that we can apply effectively to ourselves if need be, and even made them standard issue. Our First Aid Kits have gone from a simple bandage/dressing to tourniquets, bandages, dressings, and a few other assorted goodies.

Another aspect of the new training is clearing the air ways of a casualty. Under certain criteria we are trained to insert a tube into the nose of a casualty down to their throat in order to prevent them from swallowing their tongue and creating an unobstructive passage for air to travel in and out of their lungs. The majority of us practiced this on the usual training dummies, but a few of us volunteered to have the process performed on us. No, I wasn't one of the brave (or is it crazy) few who did that.

I am looking forward to Day 2's training as we will be learning how to administer an IV, and we'll be "sticking" eachother for practical application. I'm sure a number of us will have bruises by the end of the day. It should make for some good video.

In the mean time, I leave you with a video (no sound) of one of our soldiers applying the before mentioned "nose hose" to one of volunteers.