MARINE CORPS HAWAII, Kaneohe Bay -- You are in an unknown field environment. The only sounds engulfing your eardrums are the ringing of unrelenting gunfire in the air, followed by screams of your fellow service members who are rushing about you, defending the area.
As time passes, one of them falls beside you. The firing doesn't end, but your comrade needs your help. What do you do?
Medical personnel along with multiple Marine units here took part in a course named Tactical Combat Casualty Care, May 11 - 14. This two-day crash course was designed to give them the knowledge to deal with combat situations that could easily arise in today's war on terrorism.
"The guideline for this course is to be able to care for the wounded on the battlefield, until they can get professional attention once removed from it," said Dr. Stephen Giebner, chairman for Tactical Combat Casualty Care.
This was the first time the course has been taught here. The interest from Marines and the medical department wanting the latest on combat casual care allowed this to happen, said Giebner.
"The main focus is getting the person to know what to do on the battlefield to care for an immediate injury," he explained. "In a firefight, these people need to know when to intervene, and what to do once out there."
Among other things, service members learned various ways to stop heavy arterial bleeding, how to secure and control an open airway, and how to recognize and treat patients for shock.
"The people in this course now understand how emergency care on the battlefield is different from caring for someone in garrison," said Giebner.
The goal is to incorporate the curriculum into formal medical training for all Marines and corpsmen, said Lt. David Callaway, battalion surgeon for 3rd Radio Battalion. "Right now, we are working from the bottom up and teaching a few from different units, so they can spread their knowledge when they go back."
According to Callaway, the military is working feverishly to get this knowledge out to people because of the war in Iraq.
"Garrison medical practices are used very differently in a tactical environment," said Callaway. "We are no longer in a peacetime situation, and everyone should be prepared to perform in the most proficient manner when needed in the field."
Petty Officer 3rd Class Sheena Dietz, a corpsman with 3rd Radio, will be heading to Iraq in June. He feels much more prepared since taking the tactical care course.
"Some of the medical practices I have been exposed to are totally new to me," said Dietz. "It is totally different from basic training where you only learn how to apply medical practices in a garrison environment. I know it won't prepare me entirely for Iraq, but it will benefit me, I know. I feel more confident now."