Page 7 - DFCS News Magazine Spring 2015

Volume 15, Issue 1 - Spring 2015
Cont’d Flight Medic
From the beginning, even before the Army, sav- ing lives had interest for her. The civilian section offered few opportunities.
"I looked into joining the fire department to get my emergency medical training." She found out, at 34 years old, it would be difficult and would take too long. The Army gave her a chance to get what she wanted. The Army had a program to become a flight medic. "I joined with no medical background. None whatsoever."
The Army trains their personnel to know emer- gency medical procedures necessary for treating trauma -- combat trauma. They learn to treat the type of wounds that have been seen or could be seen in combat. In addition, they learn basic avia- tion skills and how to be part of an aircrew. Bringloe may have joined with no medical knowledge, but she demonstrated that she learned quickly. One of the soldiers had a gunshot wound to the face.
Without the crews daring rescue or Bringloe's medical treatment en route to the Forward Surgi- cal Team, the Soldier would not have survived much longer on the mountain.
The Army's Healthcare Specialist Course desig- nated as Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) "68W", includes certification in the National Registry of Emergency Technicians, (www.goarmy.com) and serves as the U.S Army's Medical department training foundation for all Army Combat Medics.
"Medicine is fascinating to me; I just can't seem to get enough of it still to this day," she said. It's been like that since I started the training."
Besides learning medical terms and procedures, the medic works in aid stations, forward surgical teams, and assists in triage. They are often on their own working and living with the units in the
field and are there when a unit could come under fire. These medics are revered by the troops and are re- ferred to as "doc" -- a term of endearment. They pro- vide medical treatment in the absence of a doctor. They initiate treatment at the location of injury, they maintain treatment during evacuation to a healthcare facility, and are trained to work in hazardous and challenging terrain. This includes the mountains of Afghanistan or inside the body of a helicopter thou- sands of feet in the air as it flies to the nearest medi- cal facility.
This is what Bringloe wanted. She wanted to fly, but she had to spend a year as a ground medic before tak- ing her medical education to an even higher level. She had aspirations of doing more.
"I love flying. Flying in helicopters is a thrill!" Bringloe attended the Army's Flight Medic Course at The United States Army School of Aviation Medi- cine (USASAM) at Fort Rucker, Alabama. http:// usasam.amedd.army.mil/index.htm
Bringloe flew many missions, inside the aircraft and more than once found herself dangling outside of it as well. A medic can be lowered to the patient to render assistance, and find herself hanging on the end of a very strong cable as she is being lifted into the air. The following tells her story, on a night where the training kicks in, and everything should and better work properly.
With the fallen soldier on board, her crew immediate- ly returned the jungle penetrator (JP) to her for her own extraction. As soon as she began securing her- self to the JP, the encircling enemy opened fire on her with a fierce determination to take her out. Despite the chaos around her, she didn't hesitate in her job, securing herself and instructing her crew to continue with her own extraction, ultimately hoisting her away...
What makes a good medic? Is it being cool? Is it making good decisions? Maybe it's a combination of
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