Combat Life Saver

I have spent the week in the Combat Life Saver (CLS) course. After Desert Storm and Desert Shield it was discovered that many of the soldiers that died over in the desert would have had a much greater chance of survival had they simply had an IV while medical evacuation was on its way. The CLS course is designed to give every soldier on the battle field the knowledge that is needed to provide first responder care. A long with the usual splint a fractured limb and stop severe bleeding we learned how to put on and loosen a tourniquete and how to put a needle into the chest to relieve the air entering the lung cavity after a penetrating chest wound. The class culmintated in a hands on exercise in which after an engagement with an enemy we found several of our squad members hurt and in need of immediate care.