Fort Stewart, Ga.
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Can you imagine being wounded in combat with no certified medics nearby? This could be a Soldiers worst nightmare.
Soldiers assigned to Troop A, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division, have taken matters into their own hands by conducting a Combat Life Saver refresher course, Aug 7-8.
The CLS teaches participants how to treat major life-threatening battlefield injuries and prepares Soldiers to act as a step between first aid and professional medical responders. Valuable skills such as stopping bleeding, splinting broken or fractured bones and evacuating a casualty are a few of the many topics covered during this two-day class.
Were conducting a CLS refresher course to make sure we can handle any emergency medical situation which takes place on the battlefield, said Sgt. Anthony Rains, a cavalry scout assigned to A Troop, 5/7 Cav., and a native of Holdenville, Ok.
While military training can sometimes be deemed boring or irrelevant, this was clearly not the case with the Gary Owen troops. This training was amazing, a lot of medics were running around advising Soldiers, Sgt. Rains added. We learned a lot of useful and relevant techniques that could actually happen on the battlefield.
Although the training was fun, it was anything but easy.
The training lanes smoked us, said a tired and hungry Spc. Nicholas Ground, a cavalry scout with Troop A, 5/7 Cav., and native of Ashburn, Va. It was good training, but it wore me out!
With CLS training in their bag, the Soldiers of Troop A appear ready, willing and able to take on any emergency medical situation thrown at them.