ethnography original

8/10/2019 Ethnography original

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IMAGE] This is done to show respect to the superior rank and is usually met with a quick “relax” if done

properly. Reserve units also differ from normal units obviously in the fact that they only meet once a

month for 2 or 3 days. People come from as far away as 300 miles for a reserve weekend, active duty

everyone lives within basically 15 miles of the installation if not on it. The Army reserve offers a free

hotel room for anyone living more than 50 miles from their meeting place.

The first platoon of medics in the 396th medical company was tasked with doing preventative

maintenance, checks and services (PMCS) on the company vehicles for the day. This means they were

going to spend all day in the Motor Pool. The Motor Pool is hated by almost every medic in the United

States Army… reserve, active, and “nasty girls” (National Guard) we all hate it. The Motor Pool is a vast

concrete area behind the reserve building with large green freight containers sectioning off the parking

spots for various vehicles. These freight containers hold all of the gear and maintenance equipment

associated with the vehicle it is assigned to. This company currently owns about 10 Field Litter

Ambulances (FLA) which are ambulances built onto a Humvee frame. [FLA PICTURE] PMCS is performed

by going through what is called a -10 (dash 10) or a basic service manual (anything followed by 10 in the

Army denotes the basic level, for example a 68W10 is a new junior rank medic) and following a

maintenance guideline that covers almost every single nut or bolt on the Humvee. This is a long,arduous task and I checked in on them several times throughout the day to see how it was going. The

first platoon fourth squad leader had this to say about PMCS, “I hate doing this, we all hate doing this.

We’re medics not mechanics… but I guess it has to be done. Might as well call us medi-chanics.” I had

heard that term before during my time being an infantry medic for a mechanized armor battalion.

Second platoon for my observations was training on Trauma Lanes. Being an Army Combat Medic means

you have to be ready to deal with literally anything that could be imagined as a battlefield injury.

Trauma lanes are usually set up and run by the medics with the most combat experience in the

company. Trauma lanes are carried out as realistically as possible. I loaded up in what we call “Full Kit”

which includes a 40lb Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV), an Army Combat Helmet (ACH), a 50+ pound

aid bag, and a 7.5lb M4 Carbine. For this lane the company was not using pyrotechnics, all incoming fireor hostile contact would be voiced by cadre. I volunteered to run the lane and let someone else take

notes so I could accurately write about it. I was in the prone position with my weapon facing the

direction I was told hostile fire was coming from. I had one Combat Life Saver trained (CLS) assistant to

assist me in the lane, he was only allowed to do what I tell him. I was being fired at. The first thing you’re

trained to do as a Medic is to return fire. I returned fire. While shooting downrange, I call to my casualty

“Can you move to cover? Can you provide self -aid? Can you return fire?” I get no response. Eventually

the cadre tells me hostile fire is temporarily suppressed. I stand up and bound forward with my assistant

being sure to keep check on my 12 (directly in front) for returning enemies. Arriving at the casualty is

called being on the “X.” On the X the only treatment you can render is a hasty tourniquet on a massive

hemorrhaging extremity and move the casualty. My casualty had a missing right leg and bright red blood

squirting everywhere, it’s arterial. I grab a Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT) from my pocket and

apply it high and tight on the amputated leg, this takes less than 60 seconds. I then instruct my assistant

to pull security while I grab the casualty by his body armor and drag him back to cover. Once behind

cover you enter a phase of care called “Tactical Field Care.” I start this phase by calming down, checking

my own pulse and repeating in my head “M – A – R – C – H.” This acronym stands for Massive

Hemorrhage, Airway, Respirations, Circulatory, Hypothermia/Helicopter, this is the treatment protocol

for Combat Medics as directed by the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) which is headquartered at



Fort Sam Houston, Texas. I quickly make my patient naked (in a training environment, down to the tan t-

shirt and ACU trousers). To complete the first part of my treatment protocol I make sure there are no

major bleeds I missed from being on the X and that any major bleed I treated is still controlled after

movement. Starting at the head and moving down hitting every extremity and the torso you slide your

hands under the body and back out to see if any blood that wasn’t there before is present. Airway is the

next step and is started by looking, listening, and feeling for breathing by the casualty. I use my hands toperform a maneuver known as the “Head tilt, chin lift” in which I place a hand on the head and push

back while my other hand on the chin pushes up which causes the head to tilt back and open the airway.

To make sure that I can keep the airway open I insert a tube into the casualty’s nose called a

Nasopharyngeal Airway (NPA) this tube slides down a nostril and sits on the back of the throat to make

sure nothing can completely obstruct the airway. While performing the Airway step, I instructed my CLS

trained assistant to check the chest for equal rise and fall of the lungs. He reported back that one side

was rising and the other wasn’t. This immediately tells me that the patient has a Tension Pneumothorax

or a collapsed lung. I tell my assistant to insert a 3 and a quarter inch, 14 gauge needle into his collapsed

lung. This is known as Needle Chest Decompression. This needle is inserted 90°to the chest wall on the

mid-clavicular line (the nipple is mid-clavicular.) While he wraps up inserting and securing the

NCD I jumped to Circulatory which mostly involves treating for different types of shock and

initiating Intravenous access. This particular casualty had radial pulses (the pulse in your wrist)

which indicates that his blood pressure is at least 80 systolic and that he isn’t in hypovolemic

shock. I initiate what is called a saline lock, this is I.V. access that is capped with an easy

access port. The last step is Hypothermia treatment and Helicopter which is completed by

wrapping the patient in an all-weather blanket (also known as a space blanket) and initiating a

9-line medevac request.[9-line picture] This request is called over the radio and as you could

have guessed results in evacuating the casualty back to a higher echelon of medical care. This

all seems like a lot to take in, but I’ve practiced this over and over for more than 4 years, it’s

almost second nature. Honestly this was one of the easier trauma lanes I’ve ever conducted

and I impressed a lot of the onlookers at my new unit.

Toward the end of the day, around 1630 or so, the unit starts to clean in preparation to go home.

The day is ended with a “Close-out” formation which is very similar to the accountability

formation from the morning except at exactly 1700 the bugle is called “Retreat” which is followed

by “To the colors.” Soldiers salute on the first note of “To the colors” and return to the position of

attention on the last note. On the last day of the drill weekend the 1SG calls everyone into a half

circle before releasing them home to give what is known as a “Safety Brief.” These are almost

always the same spiel about not driving drunk, not beating your spouse or animals, practicing

safe sex, and not doing drugs. My Squad Leader had this to say at the end of the day, “See,

after working hard all day, it’s nice to go home…There are days when serving sucks, and there

are days when serving kicks ass. I wouldn’t trade this job for anything… except maybe going

back active duty so I can do this every day.” I enjoy doing this stuff too, I however don’t plan on

going active duty again unless I’m wearing a little gold bar, I’m done with the enlisted life. I hope

this helped you, the reader, see a little of what it’s like to be a Soldier for a day… even if it was

just a POG, pronounced “pogue,” medic point of view (POG stands for Position Other than

Grunt which is a derogatory term Infantry soldiers use for anyone that isn’t Infantry.)

ethnography original

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