“You can’t put blood back into the body,” shouted Petty Officer 3rd Class Juan Otero to his class. “STOP the massive bleeding before you move on to the rest!”
The class of Marines and sailors from Headquarters Company, Regimental Combat Team 8, looked on as Otero began talking about how to save lives in a combat environment as part of the unit’s predeployment training program.
“When you are with the Marines, you don’t really worry too much…having combat lifesavers is a good back-up for the corpsmen,” said Otero, the training petty officer for RCT-8. “CLS is important to them because if the corpsman goes down in battle, the Marines are taught to be able to help. Or, if the corpsman is busy, another CLS trained Marine can provide first aid.”
The Combat Lifesavers Course consists of three days of medical training focusing on saving another Marine’s life should the need arise. The course underwent a few changes recently in how the basics of lifesaving would be taught.
Marines who went through the previous CLS course, learned to save lives using the ABC acronym: Airway, Breathing and Circulation. Now the acronym MARCH is used: Massive bleeding, Airway, Respiratory, Circulation and Head injury or Hypothermia.
“You want to keep the blood in the body,” said Otero. “Even if you can restart the breathing, you can’t make more blood if you are already bleeding badly.”
Topics in the course included the Individual First Aid Kit, tourniquet positioning and application, obstructed airways, needle thoracentisis, nasopharangyl application and giving intravenous fluids.
During the class, the students took turns allowing their fellow Marines an opportunity to demonstrate the proper techniques. One Marine will always remember that he volunteered at the wrong time.
Lance Cpl. Jason Shufelt took a break from the RCT-8 motor transportation section to attend the course. He didn’t expect to face a tube through the nose, the nasopharangyl to be exact.
The nasopharangyl is a tube used when a casualty can’t be resuscitated using the mouth, and it enters through the nostril.
“It was definitely the weirdest thing I have ever felt,” said Shufelt, in reference to his experience. “I wasn’t expecting it to go in as far as it did. I will never volunteer for this ever again.”
After this experience, Shufelt was ready to learn more, but hesitant on trying other lessons first hand.
“I expected them to talk about the IFAK, tourniquet and giving intravenous fluids,” said Shufelt. “I am intrigued to see what’s in store for the rest of the class. I’m excited to see what happens next.”
Overall, the course teaches the Marines to be comfortable about providing first aid to others. Practical application of the methods helps to alleviate any doubts in tending to battle wounds.
“We teach them about the basics, like gunshot wounds and penetrating chest wounds, so they know what to expect,” said Otero. “This way they won’t freak out if the real thing happens.”
“I really enjoy sharing my knowledge with the Marines,” said Otero. “It is good for them to know what I know. We are practically sharing everything; why not share the knowledge.