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WAHIAWA, Hawaii – Soldiers from Company C, 225th Brigade Support
Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
conducted Combat Water Survival Training (CWST) while simultaneously
implementing their Medic Table VI and Basic Life Support (BLS)
skills with an Automated External Defribulator (AED) Oct. 1, 2014 at Helamano Military Reserve in Wahiawa, Hawaii.
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Soldiers from Company C, 225th
Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th
Infantry Division conducted Combat Water Survival Training (CWST)
while simultaneously implementing their Medic Table VI and Basic
Life Support (BLS) skills with an Automated External Defribulator
(AED), Oct. 1, 2014 at Helamano Military Reserve in Wahiawa, Hawaii.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Carlos Davis)
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According to Sgt. Gregory Tainatongo, of Tacoma,
Washington, and Sgt. Edward Dean, of Banning, California,
both health care specialists assigned to Company C, the
principle of the training was not to teach Soldiers how to
swim, but instead to teach them how to survive; an important
and essential tool being stationed on the pacific island of
Oahu.
During the training, Soldiers were trained on
the two types of water entry, how to correctly exit the
pool, treading water, how to use the Army Combat Uniform
(ACU) as a flotation device while simultaneously applying
the basic fundamentals of BLS with the use of an AED , and
correctly performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a dive
casualty.
In order to
accommodate swimmers at all levels, safety measures were
implemented with the use of trained instructors who
supervised all previously identified weak and non-swimmers
at the shallow end of the pool.
"The training was a
success,” stated Spc. Ashanti Rhabb, a health care
specialist assigned to Company C, who has been in the Army
for almost three years. “As a non-swimmer, I felt that the
training was extremely beneficial; I felt safe and included
during all phases of the training.”
Upon completion
of the training, Rhabb stated that she would be willing to
complete the training again once she had taken swimming
lessons.
“As an experienced swimmer, I felt like this
training was very realistic,” said Pfc. Robert Vasilescu of
Brooklyn, N.Y., a health care specialist assigned to Company
C. “The training was a 'must have' being stationed here in
Hawaii as a Soldier in the 25th Infantry Division in the
Pacific Command (PACOM). I have conducted water rescue
training in the past and found this training to be
comparably important and essential. As medics, we need to
know how to perform our job in an aquatic environment as
potential first responders in the field."
Being
surrounded by water here in Hawaii, it is important for
Soldiers to learn basic survival skills. For most of Company
C, 225th BSB Soldiers, the CWST event was their first
experience with water survival training highlighting the
importance and necessity of this potential perishable skill.
When asked whether or not training was a success, both
Tainatongo and Dean were already preparing to take the
training to the next level, CWST in the ocean.
“Novice swimmers can survive in water,” said Dean. “Water
survival is possible if correct standards and training are
implemented.”
By U.S. Army Gloria Montgomery
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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