D Co. 3-159th ARB completes CLS recertification training

Members of D Co., 3rd Battalion 159th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion were put to the test during combat lifesavers (CLS) course recertification at Joint Base Balad, Iraq on Feb. 5.

While the CLS course itself is a 40 hour block of instruction, the recertification took only a few hours.  CLS personnel are required to be recertified every year.  If that certification lapses, they must take the entire 40 hour course over again.   If CLS personnel could pass both a written and hands on practical exam, they could be recertified even if it had been over the one year period.

After a brief review, the written exams were distributed.  Those who passed the grueling 40 question, multiple choice test, moved on to the hands on portion.  Those who didn’t, have to retake the entire course. The hands on portion consisted of six tasks at three different stations.  The different tasks were to apply a tourniquet, properly apply clot gauze, administer a nasopharyngeal airway, treat for shock, administer a chest decompression, and finally administering an Intravenous (IV).

For the practical portion, instructors had set up a dummy, lovingly named Dwayne.  Dwayne was missing the lower half of his leg, lopped off at the knee, and his entire left arm from the shoulder.  Students were required to perform triage and provide aid to Dwayne effectively. First was to apply a tourniquet to Dwayne’s severed leg to stop the bleeding.  The tool for this job was the military’s new Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT).  The CAT is designed so that an injured person can apply it themselves, using only one hand if needed. 

After the leg, comes the injured arm. This was where the new clot gauze came into use.  It is simply a roll of gauze, but it has blood clotting agents in it to help stop heavy bleeding.  It is a huge advancement over the old field dressings, which was a gauze pad with two cloth tails. 

The third ailment affecting poor Dwayne was that he was having difficulty breathing.  This was where the nasopharyngeal airway (NPA) comes into play.  It is a rubber or plastic tube inserted into the nose and goes down and separates the tongue and the throat, allowing the victim to breathe. 

All of this came quite suddenly to poor Dwayne, and, consequently, he experienced shock. Shock is when the body loses so much blood that it takes blood from the extremities so that the interior organs have enough, leaving the extremities to fend for themselves.  Treatment includes loosening clothing to increase blood flow, elevating the legs, and maintaining body temperature, not letting them get too hot or too cold.

After helping Dwayne, the instructors have students run through a chest decompression exercise.  It is a fairly simple procedure used in the case of a collapsed lung.  When a lung is punctured, the air escapes into the area surrounding the lung.  The increase in air pressure can actually cause the lung to collapse.  A chest decompression consists of jamming a needle with a catheter into the chest cavity to release the pressure. 

The final exercise students have to complete is one that every person who goes through CLS will remember. The IV drill. Students partner up and take pot shots at administering IVs. It’s good practice in the event it ever needs to be done, but wholly unpleasant if the person administering the IV has a shaky arm.

 The Soldiers of D Co. 3159th ARB made it through the refresher without too much blood loss.  

By SPC Shawn Harrah, D Co. 3-159th ARB
5 Feb 09