”Anyone can be taught this”: Combat medic shares peculiarities of his work in evacuation team – photo
Pravda Ukraine
A military medic with the alias Tsyba works in the evacuation group of the Spartan Brigade. The man took up tactical medicine at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and now has almost two years of combat experience.
“Anyone can become a combat medic,” the National Guard quoted Tsyba.
The Tsyba evacuation team consists of a medic and a driver. Its main task is to respond quickly to a call and stabilise the condition of wounded soldiers for their further evacuation to a stabilisation point.
“The algorithm of actions is not complicated, but every detail and minute is important, because it is about people’s lives,” says Tsyba.
The knowledge he gained while studying to become a paramedic was only partially useful to him, as tactical medicine is different from civilian medicine, he says.
“The difference is that on the frontline, speed and consistency of actions play a key role. This can be taught to anyone, so anyone can become a combat medic. Desire is the key,” says the National Guard member.
The assets to help the wounded – the equipment of the evacuation vehicle and the medic’s personal backpack – also matter.
In particular, the vehicle should have rigid and soft stretchers. The latter are usually used to transport the wounded or if they need to be taken out of somewhere, says Tsyba.
“There should be a backpack with everything to provide medical care while we are transporting the soldier: bandages, dressings, drips and painkillers. The backpack is also needed when heading for the position.
If a [wounded] person is inside the car, we have everything we need inside: tourniquets, bandages, gloves, scissors to cut the armoured vest, syringes, dressings, occlusive dressings and bandages. All of this is needed to bring a person to a stabilisation point,” the National Guard member says.
The medic notes that there are both difficult and pleasant moments in his work, which give him inspiration to continue his service.
“Our crew has saved more than a hundred lives of soldiers over the course of our work. It’s nice to provide assistance, saving the lives of our guys and seeing them recover,” the medic added.
Earlier, we wrote about a pickup truck dubbed Frankenstein that saved many soldiers.
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