Page 12 - NATO Supplement

10 n Journal of Special Operations NATO Supplement: HFM-224 Technical Proceedings

agreed that 20 weeks’ training time was the min- recent data showing that a SOF Operator is just
imum time investment required to reliably train as likely to provide trauma care as a SOF medic.
NSOCMs in these tasks and also the maximum The implication is that it is not sufficient for a
training time most nations could afford. nation to focus only on NATO SOF medic train-
ing when considering their medical training re-
A common problem across the Alliance is the quirements; they must also consider the training
small population of SOF medical personnel. SOF Operators.
Na tions frequently have few qualified, available
SOF medical instructors and a small numbers of Despite these challenges, the meetings leading up
medics, requiring initial and sustainment medic to this workshop clearly established the NATO
training. Justifying 20 weeks of training time is SOF community’s intense support to work on
difficult with such small numbers of personnel, training and performance conformity and inter-
who must also be available for missions. Further- operability. There was also agreement that a con-
more, training costs for these low-density skills sensus on NATO SOF medic capability could
can inhibit the creation of individual national easily be reached. Such a consensus would iden-
training programs. Thus, nations look for alter- tify training goals, curriculum, strategies, tactics,
native methods to train their personnel. and techniques for both initial and sustainment
NSOCM training. It was also agreed that na-
Several nations send SOF medics to the U.S. tional senior medical leadership and commander
Joint Special Operations Medical Training Cen- support are essential to successfully create inter-
ter’s (JSOMTC) in Fort Bragg, NC, U.S., Special operability in NATO SOF medicine.
Operations Combat Medic (SOCOM) Course
(32 weeks) or the longer Special Forces Medical 3.2.2 Tactical Combat Casualty
Sergeants Course (18D) (52 weeks) for training. Care Curriculum
These “master medics” then return home to train In 2001, the U.S. Defense Health Board (U.S.
their peers. However, national regulations may DHB) chartered the Committee on Tactical Com-
limit the scope of practice for some of the skills bat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) chaired by CAPT
they have now learned. Other nations use the (Ret.) Frank Butler, MD, USN, a former U.S.
International Special Training Center in Pfullen- Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
dorf, Germany, to train their SOF medical per- Surgeon. The CoTCCC’s mission is to identify
sonnel. This is a great example of multinational contemporary operational challenges in casualty
collaboration, but some nations consider this management and apply expertise and scientific
joint training center, a non-NATO school, to be rigor to establish and publish standards of practice
under resourced for the task and cannot presently for combat casualty care.
provide the required 20 weeks of training. A third
method is to recruit medics trained through con- Three of the CoTCCC’s founding members, Drs.
ventional force training and provide SOF- specific Butler, Champion, and McSwain, served on the
training at the unit level through contracted HFM Expert Panel, providing extensive experi-
courses or their own 10-week training programs, ence and lessons learned from developing a po-
a costly but viable option. litical and academic system that effects change in
U.S. combat casualty care guidelines. Dr. Butler,
Although the RWS’s primary focus was NSOCM in particular, discussed the necessary steps over 10
training requirements, some participants noted years the CoTCCC took in navigating through a