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The US Army Combat Lifesaver Program
In combat the availability of trained medical personnel to provide immediate far forward care is limited. The combat lifesaver is a nonmedical Soldier trained to provide emergency lifesaving care as a secondary mission. US Army doctrine has for several years required each squad, crew, or section to have at least one member trained as a combat lifesaver. Due to the proven effectiveness of this course in reducing loss of life the US Army has within the past few months made Combat Lifesaver training mandatory for ALL soldiers during their Initial Entry Training (during their first six months of service). This is in addition to the Self-Aid Buddy-Aid (SABA) which has been required for several years.
The Global War on Terrorism continues to take its toll on our soldiers. The unique environment and unconventional tactics employed by the enemy make the availability of trained medical personnel problematic. Since prehospital care continues to be the most important aspect of battlefield medical care, we must adapt our ability to make this lifesaving care available.
There needs to be a shift in our thinking, the days of not providing self aid and laying there and yelling "Medic" are over. We must have the ability to assess our own wounds, provide self or buddy aid if needed, and continue the mission if able. The bottom line is a soldier available at the point of wounding who is equipped and trained to decrease preventable battlefield death. This strategy will increase the unit's combat effectiveness and it's survivability.
Within the past year the skill sets for both SABA and CLS have changed to reflect the battlefield environment our soldiers find themselves in today. The tasks trained address the most common injuries observed in a tactical environment, especially the most common preventable causes of battlefield deaths (9% bleed to death from compressible site, 5% die from tension pneumothorax, 1% from simple airway occlusion).
The basis for this training program is that performance of the primary combat mission takes priority over the secondary mission of providing care to injured soldiers. Listed below are the lifesaving skills found in both Self-Aid / Buddy-Aid and the Combat Lifesaver training programs. Currently every soldier who enters Basic Training is trained in the SABA skills. With the Rapid Fielding Initiative of the Improved First Aid Kit, every soldier, when trained, now has the ability to provide these lifesaving interventions to injured soldiers on the battlefield.
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