Basic Training: Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training - Coursework Example

Basic Training (Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training) The 68 W10 has a chief role in the Army of the United States of America of giving medical treatment to sick and wounded soldiers. The Whiskeys are central to the operation activities, and functionality of the Army of the US. It is a requirement for all squads to have a whiskey anytime the squad is undertaking perilous mission (Chapman & US Army training and Doctrine Command 35). Platoons assign the line medics to their duties; therefore, a single medic can attend to fifty soldiers in a field artillery unit. Besides performing the routine assignments in Army platoons, whiskey medics spend their entire life with the soldiers. Medics attend to their medical requirements and maintain the history and records of patient soldiers. Further, the medics provide moral support to the soldiers, and they monitor the soldiers’ health conditions; they converse with soldiers for a substantial portion of their time. Medics undergo a brief Pre-Deployment Training (PDT) to orient their mind about the actual conditions in the battle field before they embark on advanced training. PDT gives the medics a real picture of field situations. The training helps them to shift their mind from the controlled hospital environment to the hazardous environment in the battle front (Chapman & US Army training and Doctrine Command 36). Further, the medics are exposed to a variety of medical conditions and wounds that they may encounter in the battlefield. The medics keep the entire information that concerns all the soldiers in their platoon, and they can provide information about the soldiers’ medical records, medicine prescriptions and the family history of the soldiers whenever need arises. This knowledge of social life and medical history facilitate medics to work effectively and efficiently. They perform the roles of mental health to soldiers; this is because combat soldiers may ignore medical attention anytime they are sick or if they sustain minor injuries. Whiskeys commence health treatment at the injury location and the medics proceed with the same treatment as the patient gets evacuated to an advanced military medical facility where the whiskeys might be required to continue giving medical attention to injured soldiers (DeKoning 76). For medics to attend to soldiers’ medical needs with the required professional competence, the medics are trained to perform in their work in challenging, hostile and hazardous environments. 68W10s work with Army doctors under their own licensure and jurisdiction, and the work of the 68W10s range from immunization administration, sample fluid collection to assisting in surgical operations and trauma treatment. The medics are trained to give them the capacity to work even when the medical professionals are not there. This is because the medics may be required to provide Basic Life Support through maintenance and monitoring of patients (DeKoning 77). It is essential to note that the scope of the 68W medics does not remain static throughout the medics’ professional life. The medics rotate four times a year from operating in the battle front to performing delicate surgical operations in the theatre rooms. Training The SOCM 68W is presently ranked as the highest independent medical personnel in the field of CMF 68 training. SOCM medics operate independently in a restricted practice scope, which might be advanced after the medics have completed their fundamental training. Prospectuses 68W10s are sent to Fort Sam Houston to receive Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for a period ranging between two and half months to seventeen months. The period required by medics for training varies depending on the medics’ identifier time of training. During the training period, the medics receive extensive training that they require in their future career, especially in the military wing of the 68W soldiers. 68W soldiers require the CPR certification and EMT so that they can maintain their MOS. Since the medics require constant recertification in their profession, they undergo continues training in advanced courses, which help them to meet the medical requirements of soldiers in the US Army. A minimum of forty eight hours training session requirement is a prerequisite for all 68W10s. They receive theses training sessions every year to sharpen their skills in the military career (Laurence & Matthews 95). These annual trainings end with a test of skills under conditions that have been simulated as it is the case with other medical professionals outside the military sphere. Further, the medics dedicate a lot of their time to conduct medical based research and record or publish their findings for other professionals to share the knowledge (DeKoning 77). Moreover, in addition to AIT skills, 68W’s may attend advanced topics; this depends on the demands placed by the nature of their work. For instance, the aka “line medic” (combat medics at the front line) train on advanced treatments of trauma like venous cut downs, and chest tubes placements and the application of Quick clot or Chitosan patches to control hemorrhage (Laurence & Matthews 97). These advanced skills are also taught to Flight Medics as part of their fundamental training. All 68W personnel must train replacement of body fluids therapy and in advanced control of hemorrhage, endotracheal intubation, and decompression of the chest with needles and surgical cricothyrotomy before graduating from the medical training in AIT. Most of 68W’s medics take their training to advanced levels, and they choose to become EMT-P certified. The Army IPAP facilitates 68W medics to become physician assistants through a school program of twenty four months. However, not many medics prefer to become Special Operations Combat Medics where they get additional identifier courses of skills called “W1”. 68W personnel who qualify in SOCM get a golden opportunity to serve either in the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (CA-Med SGT), 75th Ranger Regiment (Ranger Medics), Special Operations Support Command (SOSC), or the Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR). SOCM medics attend exceptional military as well as medical training to promote their interoperability with other soldiers who have trained in operations. The exceptional training encompasses Basic EMT, ATLS, PHTLS/BTLS and Trauma-Aims and other critical skills training sessions. Though all soldiers in the United States of America Army must pass through thorough training in Combat Life Saver (CLS), 68W soldiers are required to take regular CLS refresher courses during their military career to enable them to render high quality services to soldiers. Besides the official roles of learning new and advanced courses, 68W medics perform other unofficial duties like teaching their colleagues who missed the fundamental lessons before deployment. Further, they brief interested soldiers on ordinary, basic medical operations, which the soldiers can use to save their own lives or prolong their own death as the soldiers wait for help from the medics (Laurence & Matthews 101). It is essential for a medic to train the soldiers in his platoon how to perform uncomplicated activities like preparing sterile kits. This is because the soldiers can assist the medics to treat patients when the medic becomes overly busy. The basic skills of CLS include basic evaluation of casualties, management of airway, tension pneumo-thorax and chest management, bleeding control and intravenous drip therapy (Laurence & Matthews 102). In conclusion, the 68 W10 has a chief role in the Army of the United States of America. It gives medical treatment to sick and wounded soldiers. Platoons assign the line medics to their duties. As a result, a single medic can attend to about fifty soldiers in a field artillery unit. A minimum of forty eight hours training session requirement is a prerequisite for all 68W10s, and they receive theses training sessions every year to sharpen their skills in the military career. During the training period, the medics receive extensive training that they require in their future career while in the military wing of the 68W soldiers. Works Cited Chapman, Anne & US Army training and Doctrine Command. Mixed-Gender Basic Training: The U.S. Army Experience, 1973-2004. New York: Government Printing Office, 2008. Print. DeKoning, Bernard. Recruit Medicine. New York: Government Printing Office, 2006. Print. Laurence, Janice & Matthews, Michael. The Oxford Handbook of Military Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print. Read More