ANP receives Combat Life Saver training

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Afghan National Police officers graduated Sept. 5 from an Army Combat Life Savers medical course conducted by the Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

The class, which graduated eight officers, was a joint effort between the ANP and military police from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and is believed to be the first class of its type conducted at the PRT, according to Army 1st Lt. Amanda Newsom, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 173rd Special Troops Battalion (Airborne).

“These policemen were hand selected by their respective district commanders to become the principle medics for their ANP stations,” said Newsom.

The class was one day of fast-paced learning and all of the major life-saving measures were taught including treating sucking-chest wounds, abdominal lacerations, amputated limbs, blocked airways and treating for shock.

All of the training culminated in a practical exercise conducted at the end of the day. In the exercise, the policemen had just 10 minutes to secure, treat and evacuate their suffering comrades to safety, said Newsom.

The simulated wounds varied and the treatments were limited to field-expedient measures.

“Through their ingenuity and dedication to duty, these ANP didn’t let any obstacle stop them from saving a life,” said Newsom.

The training didn’t stop at the PRT. ANP Sgt. Mujahid, from Kuz Kunar District, which is north of Jalalabad, took what he had learned and passed it on to the fellow policemen of his district Sept. 9.

According to a release issued by the 173rd STB, the training was focused on the basic first-aid Soldiers would need during that “hot minute” when their life was on the line and his peers were extremely receptive.

Courtesy of the 173rd ABCT Public Affairs Office

Contact Information – CJTF-82 Public Affairs Office Tel – 0093-799-063-013

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