Ref: C Spine Collars in Hostile Arena

[Guest guest]

Please let me put my ideas down on this one.

Firstly, and not wishing to demean anyone but as

someone that has spent plenty of time in the Army and

as a civvy paramedic in such places as Iraq teaching

hostile area first response medical training, you can

tell by the responses to this subject whether a guy/gal

has " been there - done it " .

What does hostile mean in this context ?? Not just

extreme hot or cold, not nasty infections from rivers,

plants, animals, not the threat of bites from animals

(and in some areas the locals too), not a shortage of

clean water or the possibility of long long waits for

back-up or extraction. No, In some cases it means

travelling at high speeds in unsuitable vehicles, it

means the threat of bombs, mortars, RPG's, large and

small calibre rounds (friendly fire included). It means

the possibility of having to leave the relative safety

of your vehicle and moving away on foot, perhaps

leaving most if not all of your teams medical kit in

your burning bombed out vehicle.

I think it was Wyatt that was the first to hit

the nail on the head by mentioning one of the main

factors that will dictate your treatment: Are you still

under attack or not ?

Please remember that not only the insurgents will have

a go at you but in some parts of Iraq, Afghanistan,

etc, the locals populace will join in too. Plus the

often forgotten knee jerk reaction of the local (and

international) security forces can add a new dimension

to your survival and well being.

As with any situation you as the medic along with

whatever boss you have on the ground will have to make

the decision to scoop and shot or stay and play. And in

hostile arena's that is not always dictated by the

patient's condition.

Some medics have excellent kit and equipment resources

in Iraq and some have very limited access to supplies.

You carry what you have given the space you are allowed

to take up. We all know (or should do) the correct

treatment regimes/protocols to use and should want the

best equipment to carry these out - if you get it lucky

you !!

During my time in Iraq recently I was asked to go

around to different locations (and different companies)

to assess and train up the medics there and I can tell

you it was an eye-opener to see some of the kit medic's

were carrying out with them into " Hostile " areas. I

well remember opening one PSD team's medical bag to be

confronted with bottles of cough medicine and some ones

dirty socks. Another team had a complete set of solid

silver laryngoscope (Macintosh) blades and full silver

Trachy set but only room in the pack for two trauma

dressing. One team had so much Oxytetracycline you

could have stocked a dispensary and one pocket of their

team packs (as per someone's protocol was filled with

insulin syringes ??

Another contentious point that was the carriage of

bottled oxygen. Some would argue that that is the last

thing you need to have in your none or semi armoured

vehicle if engaged in a fire fight.

Anyway, take care all and stay safe wherever you are.

S.