Medical Evacuation, or MEDEVAC, is the primary means for evacuating the most seriously wounded, ill, and injured Service Members from the front lines and no military force in the world is better than the US Army at MEDEVAC. The survival rate for wounded in Afghanistan is 92 percent, the highest in history, because of the power of our MEDEVAC capability and its battlefield support network. BACH Soldiers recently teamed with Soldiers from the U.S. Army Fort Campbell-based 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade to practice evacuating battlefield casualties and strengthen skills required for a ready medical force.
Transcript
[Narrator] Soldiers from Blanchfield Army Community Hospital teamed up with Charlie Company Sixth Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, to provide MEDEVAC training to BACH soldiers.
They were all medical series MOS’s, but none were medics, so a lot of this they don’t get on a normal daily basis, which comes into play because when you’re down range, any member of your team can get injured and go down. And there’s not always going to be a medic nearby, so you need to know how to treat that casualty, and get your team member treated and MEDEVAC’d safely. So in the woods they found their casualty, that had a leg would so they had to apply a tourniquet while possibly taking enemy fire, then they had to drag that casualty behind cover. Once behind cover then they could asses the casualty for further injuries, where they found a second chest wound, so they had to put a seal on that, and cover that up and then monitor the breathing, and then put a blanket on, load the patient on a litter, and then prepare to EVAC that patient to the MEDEVAC helicopter. (Helicopter blades whirring) And then they practice going in and out carrying the litter to and from the helicopter while the blades are rotating. (Helicopter blades whirring) The litter teams have already practiced the proper calls on how to lift the patient and everything, so the litter team is on the same page. And then they practice going in and out carrying the litter to and from the helicopter while the blades are rotating. (Helicopter blades whirring)
It was amazing. A lot of soldiers, I would say most MOS’s especially if it’s a battlefield type of environment, you should know how to put a tourniquet on somebody. If it’s a sucking chest wound, you should know how to… That’s basic BLS/CLS type of actions that we should know how to do as a soldier, regardless of your MOS.
[Narrator] The training builds on skills required for the army to maintain a ready medical force, and the inner operability of BACH and units on Port Campbell. (Helicopter blades whirring)