The US Army Combat Lifesaver Course is an official medical training course conducted by the US Army, intended to provide an intermediate step between the buddy aid-style basic life support taught to every soldier and the advanced life support skills taught only to US Army Combat Medics (MOS 68W).
Providing at least one soldier in every squad with some ALS training and equipment (focusing on time-sensitive battlefield trauma such as arterial bleeding and blocked airways) creates a company-level organic reserve of trained auxiliary medical personnel, ensures the fastest response time to a wounded soldier on the battlefield and has been statistically proven to reduce the likelihood that a soldier will die while waiting for a battalion medic to arrive. The CLS program is of particular importance to the infantry, who receive most of the battlefield injuries.
Video Combat lifesaver course
Concept
US Army Combat Medics (MOS 68W) are trained up to the level of a civilian EMT-B, which is the highest level of pre-hospital training available without going to college to become a Physician's Assistant (PA) or Trauma Nurse Specialist (TNS). Combat medics also train continuously at their profession, rather than splitting their duties. This makes them the definitive battlefield lifesaving resource for the US Army. However, in the absence of a 68W, the level of medical training available to the individual soldiers is quite low, basically equivalent to a civilian first aid course, and focuses on giving basic aid to a single other soldier (the buddy aid principle) until a medic arrives.
The CLS course is intended to bridge the gap between the minimally-trained average soldier and the highly-trained Combat Medic (who may not be available in a trauma situation), by giving an intermediate level of ALS training and equipment to at least one soldier per 10 man squad. The CLS training is roughly equivalent to an EMT-B certification (although much shorter at 40 hours vs 120 hours), with most of the non-trauma related skills removed and some EMT-I and EMT-P trauma-specific skills added. The idea is to ensure that in the absence of a combat medic, the CLS will be able to replicate some (though not all) of the full-fledged medic's ALS techniques for their squad until the patient(s) can be evacuated to definitive care (i.e - an aid station or field hospital) or a medic arrives to take over. It functionally extends the soldier's medical duties from just his battle buddy to his entire squad, and gives him the extra training to do it successfully. In times when there is many casualties and few medics (and presuming the soldier can be spared), the CLS can also serve as a competent assistant at an aid station.
Maps Combat lifesaver course
Course Outline
- 40 hours theory & practical instruction (including live venipuncture on everyone and NPA/OPA insertion on volunteers)
- 40 question written exam (pass/fail), 90% minimum score
- 30 minute practical exam (pass/fail), 100% minimum score
While a CLS certification is technically permanent, soldiers in Priority 1 units (actively-deploying brigade combat teams, for example) must retake the course once a year to retain their certification.
Scope of Curriculum
Aside from basic first aid, Combat Lifesavers are also taught to identify and perform the correct pre-hospital treatment for:
- Tension pneumothorax produced by a penetrating (bullet/frag) or non-penetrating (explosive barotrauma) lung injury
- Vascular hypovolemia produced by uncontrolled external hemorrhage
- External arterial hemorrhage (especially from an extremity)
- Unstabilized spinal cord injuries
- Sucking chest wound produced by a penetrating (bullet/frag) lung injury
- Respiratory failure produced by an unprotected airway in an unconscious or semi-conscious person
Unlike civilian EMT-Bs (who operate under mandatory supervision and with major restrictions as to the scope of their practice), Combat Lifesavers are trained and authorized to perform a number of invasive ALS techniques normally limited to EMT-Is and Ps, such as needle chest decompression, venipuncture, insertion of an indwelling venous catheter for administration of intravenous fluids and use of a multi-lumen blind insertion airway device such as a Combitube or King LT. Furthermore, by the very definition of the role they are intended to fill, they must be capable of performing these ALS techniques rapidly, alone and without expert on-the-spot guidance, which is a level of trust not seen in the civilian world until EMT-P.
Combat Lifesavers are not, however, trained or permitted to perform (among other things) laryngoscopy, single lumen tracheal intubation or any kind of surgery (such as emergency cricothyrotomy), since all involve a high risk of failure and serious additional injury to the patient when performed by a non-expert. Likewise, CLSs are not permitted to carry or dispense any medication (aside from the acetaminophen, meloxicam and moxifloxacin pills carried in every soldier's Combat Pill Pack) without specific orders from their Battalion Surgeon.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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