MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Two Marines are patrolling streets side by side in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Insurgents open fire on them, and the Marines take cover behind a brick wall. Then one of the Marines realizes his buddy is lying on the ground after being shot, leaving the Marine with the choice of what to do next.
This was the approach that Carlos R., a Special Operations Training Services instructor, used in training Marines of 1st platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment on combat trauma situations May 24 at the Area 25 Combat Town, Camp Pendleton, in preparation for the unit’s upcoming deployment to Afghanistan later this year. Carlos, a former corpsman with a Masters degree in medicine, has ten years in the Marine Reconnaissance Army Special Forces fields.
“The most common mistake during combat trauma is failure to act quickly,” said Carlos. “Violence of action wins battles, but that violence of action can also save lives.”
Carlos told the Marines he would have first rushed behind the cover of a brick wall and start shooting back.
“The best form of medicine is rounds down range,” said Carlos as he shouted the importance of fire superiority.
He strictly advised Marines to keep shooting until the enemy is down and there is absolutely no danger, citing that Marines should never underestimate the power of a single rifleman and their rifle.
If a Marine lowers his weapon in that situation, he has given up a strong point and allowed the enemy to fire and/or maneuver, Carlos explained.
Marines are trained on how to treat casualties in combat, but in that training, communication is not stressed enough, he said.
“Ninety percent of the medical healing can be performed behind cover,” said Carlos.
A Marine can find out if the casualty is alert, the location of his injury, the location of enemy fire, location of injury to casualty, and more information to assist him in making a life and death situation just by talking to the injured Marine, said Carlos. A Marine can even determine how much time he has to save the casualty, or direct him to safety by evaluating the responses he gets.
Carlos also stressed that having a plan and a backup plan is crucial to successful combat medical treatment.
He told the story of a Marine who couldn’t use a tourniquet after realizing that his arm was left arm was blown off. The Marine then grabbed a triangular bandage around his neck to stop the bleeding on his left arm.
“He is taking what we’ve already learned and breaking it down and giving us different options,” said Cpl. Mark Edwards, a fire team leader with 1st Plt.
After the Marines received instructions on how to react to fire, they put it to the test in practical application drills. Squads of Marines took turns patrolling through the urban terrain course.
While taking fire from mock insurgents, the Marines had to advance through the course to provide medical treatment to a stranded casualty. Under enemy gunfire and sustained casualties, team leaders had to remain calm while making sure that they were communicating with other Marines on what actions to take.
They screamed enemy positions and movements to each other and advanced to a stranded casualty by applying fire and maneuver tactics that they learned.
The objective of the exercise was for Marines to react quickly, but also not to lose focus on the mission if something unexpected happened, such as a casualty, said Carlos.
“It is very important for them not to get tunnel vision while operating,” he said.