Medical Supplies Turned Over to ANSF

A unique team of individuals have rescued expensive medical supplies and equipment destined to be destroyed or shipped back to the United States to sit in metal containers or in warehouses unused. MAJ Elizabeth Gum of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command and her team of medical logistic specialists are helping to provide needed training aides and supplies by salvaging medical supplies in theater. The team is finding medical material in good condition and reintroducing the materiel to support medical units, civilian entities, and the ANSF. The teams sort through the retrosort yards at Bagram and Kandahar to find the materials for the free issue program. Read more in "Life saving money", DVIDS, January 25, 2014.

ANA Hospital Completes MASCAL Training

(Photo by MAJ Carlos Cuebs)

Members of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghanistan National Military Hospital in Kabul recently completed a Mass Casualty (MASCAL) training event. The training was conducted by Soldiers of the US Armed Forces Command - Afghanistan (USFOR-A) located at the New Kabul Compound (NKC). The objective of the MASCAL training was to teach the students how to transfer injured personnel from the point of injury to the casualty collection points (CCPs) for treatment and/or move incoming patients from helicopters to the hospital or treatment area. The ANA is the recipient of medical training provided by medical advisors and trainers conducting the Security Force Assistance mission. Learn more about the MASCAL training event in "Afghanistan National Army personnel train on patient evacuation", DVIDS, January 21, 2104.

Former SF Medic Establishes Program to Reduce Battlefield Deaths

A medical fellowship program seeks to reduce battlefield deaths. A former Special Forces Medic who served in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993 and also in Afghanistan as a battalion surgeon in 2005 and 2010 believes that more can be done for battlefield casualties. The aim of the Military Emergency Medical Services and Disaster Medicine Fellowship Program is to train physicians for the challenges of pre-hospital care on the battlefield. "Pre-hospital care" is that critical time between a traumatic event and when care is received at a military treatment facility. Read more in "Medical Fellowship Program Seeks to Reduce Battlefield Deaths", American Forces Press Service, January 14, 2014.

Medical Training to ANA Provided by 3 BCT 10th Mountain Division

Security Force Assistance Advisors from 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division are providing medical training to the Afghan National Army in the South of Kabul area in the 203rd ANA Corps area of operations. The mentors have been providing the Afghans with mentorship and support in an effort to develop a capable and comprehensive medical corps. The goal is to establish a unit that can provide care for its personnel, from basic combat life saving skills, to advanced trauma care. At the tactical level this is accomplished by providing training on Combat Life Saving classes. Read more in, DVIDS, January 10, 2014.
"Spartans foster medical partnership with Afghan counterparts"

OCC-Rs Improving in Medical Coordination

The Operational Coordination Centers at the regional level (OCC-Rs) are slowly improving in their capabilities to coordinate and track medical evacuations of injured or wounded members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). This ability has been slow in coming but it would appear that the presence of a never-ending succession of medical advisors at the OCC-Rs is slowly having an effect. While the Afghan Air Force still has problems in conducting CASEVACs in any meaningful way (in terms of capacity) the ground evacuation capability of the ANSF is getting better. The picture at right (photo by CPL Mariah Best) shows Captain Nolan Ellis, medical advisor for the 201st Security Force Assistance Team, discussing the seven-line medical evacuation process with an ANA officer in the OCC-R South. Read more in "Medical operations in Afghanistan: Continued success as ANSF takes the lead", DVIDS, January 12, 2014.

Medical Advisers with 3/10 Mountain Assist ANSF

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LIGHTNING, Afghanistan – At just two months into their deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Spartans, are hard at work, alongside their Afghan National Security Force counterparts as they continue to assume responsibility for the defense and security of their nation.

The Spartan brigade is currently tasked with advising and assisting the Afghan National Security Forces. To this end, the brigade has been providing the Afghans with mentorship and support in their effort to develop a capable and comprehensive medical corps. The goal is to establish a unit that can provide care for its personnel, from basic combat life saving skills, to advanced trauma care, consistently throughout Afghanistan.

Read more: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/118994/spartans-foster-medical-partnership-with-afghan-counterparts#.UtHg_p5dV8E#ixzz2q8iw3jns

Afghan Border Police Need More Medical Training and Supplies

The Afghan Border Police or ABP work in the most remote parts of Afghanistan. When an ABP member is wounded or injured he is miles and hours (sometimes days) away from the nearest medical facility. With the number of MEDEVACs performed by Coalition rotary wing aircraft for the ANSF in a steep decline a great percentage of the wounded die. SFAATs advising the ANSF in the North of Kabul (NoK) area of Afghanistan along the Afghan-Pakistan border are providing medical training to the ABP so they can administer first aid prior to evacuation to a medical facility. Learn more in "Turning border police into lifesavers in Afghanistan's remotest places", Stars and Stripes, January 1, 2014.

Wounded Evacuations in Afghanistan Improves

Survival rates for wounded Soldiers have improved dramatically thanks to more medevac helicopter crews and improved medical procedures.  Read more in "In Afghan War, More Equipment Helps Raise Survival Rate of Wounded", The New York Times, January 8, 2011.

U.S. Medevacs Save Afghan Civilian Lives

The medevac system in Afghanistan has improved dramatically.  Several years ago the medevacs would be launched from four locations - Bagram, Salerno, Kandahar, and K2 (Uzbekistan).  Now, the flights can be dispatched from locations all across the country.  The medevacs will serve the Afghan civilian population when available and not in high demand.  The article link below will bring you to a story that illustrates this fact - the story of a woman having a breached birth who was fortunate enough to have a Special Forces team call for a medevac.  Go ahead, read the story - it has a good ending!  See "A U.S. Crew's Urgent Flight Into the Afghan Desert", The New York Times, December 18, 2010.

Medical Supplies for Afghan Army Diverted by Corrupt Afghan Officials

Another instance of corruption by Afghan officials has now been reported by the media.  This case involves the diversion of medical supplies for the Afghan army by corrupt Afghan officials within the Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD).  Read more in "US medicines for Afghan soldiers disappear", Yahoo! News, December 24, 2010.

Military Medevacs in Afghanistan | Forward Operating Base Wilson

A writer in Afghanistan provides us with a glimpse of how medevac crews in Afghanistan work and live.  He describes the modern and traditional techniques used to keep Soldiers alive from pickup in the combat zone to medical care in the combat casualty hospital.  Read "Military medics combine ultramodern and time-honored methods to save lives on the battlefield", The Washington Post, October 17, 2010.