Combat Medics Train on Fort Sam Houston, Texas

Department of Defense Photo Essay

  • Combat medics work through the “blood lab” at the Department of Combat Medic Training on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Nov. 6, 2008. Strobe lights cut the darkness and fog machines fill the room. Bloody mannequins are scattered on the floors. Loud music and screams fill the air as the medics work through practice scenarios using both soldiering skills and medical training. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker II
  • Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Haney delivers a review of the combat medics’ performance in the “blood lab” at the Department of Combat Medic Training on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Nov. 6, 2008. The medics must work through the lab using a combination of soldier and medic skills administering aid and watching for hidden dangers such as homemade bombs and enemy weapons. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III
  • Army Pfc. Michael Gray readies to be tested on inserting an advanced airway device at the Department of Combat Medic Training on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Nov. 6, 2008. Army officials have revamped the program to focus on training for battlefield medicine. Sixty percent of its graduates deploy to combat within six months, officials said. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III
  • Army Sgt. 1st Class Greg Deleon, a two-tour Iraq War combat veteran and an instructor/writer at the Department of Combat Medic Training demonstrates the proper way to use a combat action tourniquet, Nov. 6, 2008. Once taught to be used as the last resort, now the new tourniquet is many times the first item out of the medic bag. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III
  • Army Sgt. 1st Class Greg Deleon, a two-tour Iraq War combat veteran and an instructor/writer at the Department of Combat Medic Training demonstrates the proper way to use a combat action tourniquet, Nov. 6, 2008. Once taught to be used as the last resort, now the new tourniquet is many times the first item out of the medic bag. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III
  • Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Haney delivers a review of the combat medics’ performance in the “blood lab” at the Department of Combat Medic Training, Nov. 6, 2008. The medics must work through the lab using a combination of soldier and medic skills administering aid, but watching for hidden dangers such as homemade bombs and enemy weapons. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III
  • Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Watson, an assistant senior instructor at the Department of Combat Medic Training, discusses the many medical devices now carried by combat medics in battle, Nov. 6, 2008. Watson said that the more realistic training at the school gives the medics more of an overall view of what they will encounter on the battlefield. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III