'Fire fighting first aid' refers to the medical aid provided by the first discoverer or combatant when they arrive at the wounded during the fighting. Generally, in the case of 'fire fighting first aid', the available medical equipment is limited to the items carried by the wounded in their personal first aid kit (IFAK), or the items contained in the medical kit carried by the medical provider. In this article on SF combat first aid, Luka shared his methods of operating and rescuing the wounded during the firefight.
If you are interested in specific medical skills, you can view them in the following table:
A. Introduction
B. Guidelines
1. The best medicine for fire fighting is fire suppression
2. Injured teammates can continue to fight.
3. Start from self rescue
4. Try not to hurt the wounded more.
5. If there is a fire threat, please give priority to evacuation.
6. Turn the clothes of the wounded over the abdomen.
7. Plan well/seize the time/handle
C. What if we can't get our comrades off the 'X' point?
D. People with the strongest adaptability can survive
brief introduction
The first stage of tactical and combat casualty treatment is' first aid in fire '(CUF). First aid for fire fighting refers to the medical aid provided by the rescuers or combatants who rush to the injured scene at the first time during the fire fighting.
Normally, the available medical equipment during CUF is only limited to the items carried by the wounded in their personal first aid kit (IFAK), or the equipment carried by the medical aid provider in their medical kit.
In this article, I will share my guiding principles so that you can successfully complete the various nursing stages of CUF, so that you can provide good tactical assistance on the scene and help your teammates continue to participate in the task.
First aid guide for fire fighting
1. The best medicine for fire fighting is fire suppression
You may have heard the saying: 'Good medical measures are bad tactical measures', which means that what is best for the patient may not be the best for the mission (because the best military medical means is to achieve firepower advantage during fire fighting).
So you may not be able to start with caring for patients directly.
When fighting, whether we (medical staff) or they (wounded) are in a bad situation. But this is the life we choose, so that others can sleep safely at night.
So if possible, try to carry out "hemostasis" treatment first, such as turning the wounded over or asking him to use self-help medical equipment.
Just remember that nothing is immutable, so everything depends on the situation. However, one of the best lessons you can learn in this section is to fight back and cover before saving people.
2. We hope our injured teammates can continue to fight
In the exchange of fire, not every 'small wound' can be a reason for people to leave the team, and minor injuries can not leave the line of fire. If the wounded person's injury is minor, he should remain in the fight.
3. Start from self rescue
Shout to the wounded (or call him by radio). If you can't get close to him, command him to take cover.
If you are a wounded person, don't lie down to be killed. Force yourself to start saving yourself.
4. Try not to let the wounded continue to suffer additional damage
The avoidable battle death means to ensure the safety of the rescue area and/or continue to exert the firepower advantage, and at the same time make a plan to let your teammates out of danger.
5. In case of fire threat, evacuation shall be the first task.
If you or others are trapped in a burning vehicle or building, first do everything possible to rescue yourself or the other party, and then take necessary measures to extinguish the flame.
At the same time, pay attention to the situation of the respiratory tract, so as to prevent inhalation injury from sneaking in and making you unprepared.
Learn more about non melting and non dripping combat clothes through our previous articles.
6. If circumstances permit, turn the clothes of the wounded over to the abdomen.
Generally, we do not conduct trachea treatment during "fire fighting first aid". This does not belong to the field medical trauma relief that you want to provide. However, we can still turn the clothes of the wounded over the abdomen and apply a simple A (A comes from M.A.R.C.H. medical strategy).
Turning the clothes over the abdomen helps prevent the injured person's tongue or blood from suffocating him.
It is not to say that we should be very cruel when doing this. What we need to do is to gain more time (and in a situation of still fighting) to eliminate possible threats. When circumstances permit, we can safely approach our comrades in arms and pull them back from the King of Hell.
7. Plan well/seize the time/handle
If tactical conditions permit, the primary goal of the CUF is to prevent life threatening external bleeding. Otherwise, please operate according to the method mentioned above: guide the wounded to self rescue, or if you have spare power and can reach some bunkers, you can take items from your first aid kit for rescue (including tourniquet).
In any case, the first thing you must do is to let the wounded leave the 'X' point. It is necessary to use the method of 'plan well/seize time/handle' to complete this work.
Before facing such a difficult challenge, your plan will depend on:
number of casualties
Candidate for fire suppression/smoke bomb throwing
Risk of rescuers
Nearest bunker position
The best way to transport the wounded (1 or 2 person team; or vehicles are needed due to the distance)
The size and weight of each wounded person (a thin guy needs fewer people to carry him than a tall and burly guy).
Before implementing the plan, try to communicate with the wounded first and tell him what you want to do, so as to avoid him mistaking you as the enemy and firing at you.
Important note: In the process of implementing the plan, try to retrieve the wounded's task sensitive items. These include his weapons, communication equipment, etc.
What will happen if we can't let our comrades leave the 'X' point?
If we can't let our wounded leave the 'X' point, we need to get out of the box and try to make the 'X' point disappear.
When it comes to making things disappear, we must read another article here: The Science Behind Camouflage.
'I don't want to be a product of the environment. I want my environment to be my product. '—— Frank Costello, The Leaving Man.
In order to avoid the bad situation of taking care of patients in the 'killing area', we need to let them leave the 'X' point and hide behind the bunker to achieve tactical evacuation.
If you have to try to treat them in the 'killing area', it is likely that you will become a dead body and eventually fall on the comrades you tried to help.
But if the wounded cannot leave the 'X' point, we can change the rule slightly and make the 'X' point disappear.
How do you do that?
We can eliminate the threat through JDAM, sniper support, or the armored vehicle stuck between the enemy and our wounded.
But remember, don't rely on luck. Luck is the will of those who believe that victory comes by chance.
In fact, opportunities prefer prepared people.
People with the strongest adaptability can survive
These CUF guidelines are designed to make you successful in first aid. To be successful, you need constant training.
I'm not just talking about medical training, because only knowing medical treatment is like only knowing how to eat with a fork (I mean, when there is only pasta on the menu, there is generally no big problem, but when the food provided includes soup, it is not so interesting to only have a fork).
No, of course what I'm talking about here is training you to provide assistance in a variety of situations.
For example, the concept of 'fire fighting first aid' also applies to the treatment of victims of traffic accidents.
First of all, we should take care of ourselves - if necessary, we should save ourselves first.
Next, we can move the injured driver and/or passengers to a safe place. Then, we protect the site so that the traffic will not cause further damage or injury, and look for other possible threats nearby.
If you or others are trapped in a burning vehicle or building, you should make every effort to rescue them/yourself and take necessary measures to extinguish the fire on the injured.
Plan how to keep your injured person away from the flames and check if he has massive bleeding or breathing difficulties.
When transferring, pay attention to whether there are other wounded blocking the road and whether there are environmental hazards.
Attention should also be paid to the respiratory tract of the injured to avoid silent injury caused by inhalation injury - if necessary, we do not need to take into account the C-type scoliosis, because no one will write a thank-you letter to you because of a intact but burned spine.
This is a matter of attitude. Everything you learn will be valuable, because you will use it to save lives or prevent major permanent injuries at some time.
Take care and pay attention to safety.
Welcome to the series of UF PRO combat medical guidance videos to learn more about CUF steps, M A. R.C.H. strategies and different first aid measures, including how to use a tourniquet to stop bleeding in peripheral veins.
About the author:
Luka Zorenc
He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and spent his childhood there. He used to be a veterinary technician, but now he is a military doctor of special operations forces. I have been learning all my life, trying to help others, and have fun in the process.
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