FOB WARRIOR — IA Soldiers gathered around a simulated combat casualty, as one of their own used newly acquired techniques to assist his breathing. Next to him, a U.S. Army medic sat and supervised, offering advice and assistance when needed.
The medic, Cpl. Jeremy Marriner, with 1st Bn, 8th Cav Regt, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav Div, gave IA Soldiers a hands-on lesson in lifesaving skills. According to Marriner, the goal of the training was to teach IA Soldiers how to control bleeding and perform rescue breathing by using materials readily accessible to them.
Although Marriner hasn't given medical training with this unit in some time, he soon realized many of the IA Soldiers had retained info from previous classes he had conducted. "I was very surprised," he said, noting the last training was about 6 months ago. "I would have been surprised if they retained much of anything at all, and yet there were a couple of them that pretty much taught the class for me this time." Marriner said the language barrier is his biggest challenge when teaching IA Soldiers. "There're a lot of things that don't really translate well from English to Arabic," explained Marriner. "When I see that one of the IA Soldiers has a pretty good grasp on the tactics and the principles of what's being applied, and he can put it into his own words, so his guys can understand it ... it's a great deal of help."
One IA Soldier, in particular, stood out as being an enthusiastic participant and assisted Marriner during the training. "I tried to give any help I could," said Ibrahim Khazal. "I learned new things; a lot of this is new training to me." During the training, Ibrahim volunteered to have tourniquets and bandages applied to him, so his fellow IA could watch and learn how to place them. He also demonstrated how to insert a nasal tube to assist breathing.
"Good medical help at the point of injury is a force multiplier," explained Marriner about the importance of this training. "They know if they get hit, their buddy can take care of them."
