In the military, buddy first aid keeps service members alive until they can receive professional medical treatment. Buddy aid is only basic first aid and is meant to provide temporary lifesaving medical treatment to wounded troops.

All service members heading off to combat situations should pay close attention to their buddy first aid training. And once you learn these skills, they will be good for life, whether you have children, enjoy going to sporting events, attend concerts, get in a car accident, or another life event that may call for these skills. Learn more about this lifesaving strategy below.

What Is Buddy First Aid?

Buddy first aid or buddy aid refers to the immediate medical measures performed by nonmedical personnel when medical professionals are unavailable. The military uses buddy aid during combat when service members are injured in the line of duty. Another service member provides lifesaving treatment until they can be moved to treatment by a medical professional.

Buddy first aid is usually administered in stressful environments and requires quick action and solid decision-making skills. The proper medical treatment must be administered quickly to prevent serious injury or death. Once buddy first aid is administered, the injured service member can be moved for enhanced first-aid treatment.

The types of treatment that can be administered through buddy first aid include:

●Dressing wounds

●Applying tourniquets

●Adding splints

●Applying clotting dressings

●Rescue breathing

Once basic first aid has been provided to an injured service member, they should be turned over to medical personnel as soon as possible.

Where You Can Get Buddy Aid Training

When you’re in the military, you’ll have multiple opportunities to learn buddy first aid so you can properly provide care to injured companions. It’s crucial to receive the proper training to treat injuries correctly and promptly until medical professionals arrive. Failing to receive the proper training or not taking the training seriously could make a bad situation worse.

When you receive your training, you’ll learn the essentials, including rescue breathing, clearing airways, stopping bleeding, and more. The different opportunities for buddy aid training in the military include:

●Basic training: While you’re in basic training, you’ll receive a few hours of minimal first-aid training. Depending on your unit, MOS, and unit resources you may receive additional hours of training or be offered more advanced training.

●Combat Lifesaver Course: In the Army, you can take the Combat Lifesaver (CLS) Course, which is for non-medical military personnel when deployed into combat. This training is more advanced than what you’ll receive in basic training but is less advanced than a Combat Medic.

●Combat Medic Specialist Training: Becoming a combat medic is a popular MOS choice for those enlisted in the Army. Combat medics can provide advanced first-aid to military personnel in their unit during combat situations.

The Essential Steps of Buddy First Aid

Buddy aid is a tool that service members use when they’re deployed into combat situations, helping their fellow troops get care that could save their lives. Even if you’re not in the military, buddy first aid can be a valuable tool, especially in fields like law enforcement. Learning how to administer buddy first aid can help you provide lifesaving care to someone in need, especially if you’re not close to a hospital and need to wait for emergency services to arrive.

Once you’ve received the proper training, you can administer buddy first aid to your fellow companions. Buddy first aid generally uses the following steps:

1. Evaluate Your Situation

When you’re in a combat situation, enemy involvement can create challenges when trying to treat injured companions. You can’t care for injured service members when the enemy is attacking, and failing to suppress the enemy could lead to more problems and injuries. Once the area is secure enough, you can start caring for the wounded.

The first step is to determine whether you need to move the injured. In many cases, it’s best to treat the injured service member in place, but some situations may be too dangerous. However, keep in mind that moving someone who’s injured could worsen injuries that you can’t see.

After you’ve decided whether or not to move them, you’ll want to asses their general condition. If they’re conscious, ask them if they’re okay and can tell you where they’re hurt. This information can help you perform the correct basic first aid procedures.

2. Check Airways, Breathing, and Blood Circulation

An injured service member must maintain their vital functions, including the ability to breathe and adequate blood circulation. Keep in mind that while you’re checking these functions, you’ll need to stay calm. If you’re panicking, the person you’re treating could panic as well, which can exacerbate their symptoms and condition.

The first thing you should check is the circulation if you notice bleeding and as long as there isn’t an immediate airway problem. Treating bleeding as quickly as possible is critical, especially if the injured person is bleeding from an artery. Consider the following two methods to treat bleeding:

●Quick clotting dressings: You’ll want to stop bleeding quickly, and the best way to do this is by promoting clotting. Quick clotting dressings contain a chemical that forces blood to clot, which is why they’re standard in military first aid kids. The packaging will come with instructions, but it’s best to familiarize yourself with these before you need to use it.

●Tourniquets: In some situations, you’ll need to use a tourniquet to stop bleeding, especially when someone has lost part or all of a limb. Tourniquets are tightened around a limb until the bleeding stops and shouldn’t be removed until a medical professional can treat the injured.

Once you’ve stopped any bleeding, you can move on to the airways and breathing. Follow these steps to help an injured person establish successful bleeding:

1. Positioning: Roll the individual onto their back so you can check their breathing. Use caution when rolling an injured person on their back to not worsen any injuries.
2. Breathing: Check for the rise and fall of their chest or listen close to your buddy’s mouth to listen for breathing. If they’re not breathing, check the airways for any obstructions.
3. Clearing: If your buddy is conscious but unable to speak, it could be due to an airway obstruction. You can try clearing this by performing abdominal thrusts. If these don’t work, use your fingers to remove any obstruction from the mouth and throat.
4. Rescuing: Once you’ve cleared the airway, you’ll need to focus on getting your buddy breathing. You can do this by using rescue breathing methods, which include mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-nose.

3. Look For Signs of Hypovolemic Shock

Hypovolemic shock occurs when someone has lost a lot of blood, and the heart can’t pump enough blood to the rest of the body. This condition is an emergency that requires prompt care. When you’re practicing buddy first aid, you can help provide immediate treatment that could save someone from passing from hypovolemic shock until professional medical help arrives.

Anyone who has lost a lot of blood should be treated for hypovolemic shock, but there are also symptoms you can look out for, such as:

●Confusion

●Nausea and vomiting

●Pale skin

●Nervousness or panic

Treat hypovolemic shock by getting the injured to lie down on the ground and lift their feet so they’re higher than the heart. Prevent the injured person from doing any physical activity and remain calm. You should also encourage your injured companion to remain calm as an accelerated heart rate can speed up blood loss. Keep them as relaxed as possible until medical help arrives.

4. Protect Your Buddy Against Further Injury

If you can, get your injured companion to safety as soon as possible. When you’re in a combat situation, you should try to move to an area where they won’t be seen by the enemy. Even if your injured companion feels only a little more protected, it can prevent those experiencing shock from getting worse.

5. Turn the Injured Over to a Medical Professional

If you’re not a combat medic, you won’t have the medical knowledge necessary to provide long-term care. You should turn over injured companions to combat medics as soon as possible, who will have the skill, knowledge, and tools to provide better treatment. Generally, combat medics will prioritize injuries based on the severity of the condition. Let combat medics treat the most severe cases first and hand over your injured companion when a combat medic is available.

What to Keep in Your First Aid Kit

The first aid kit you keep at home will look very different from the one you bring onto the battlefield. Rather than simple bandaids and gauze, military first-aid kits have supplies to treat more severe injuries. Some items you should keep inside a combat-ready first aid kit include:

●Combat gauze

●Quick clotting dressings

●Tourniquets

●Glove kits

●Trauma sheers

●Nasopharyngeal airway kits

●Surgical self-adhesive tape

●Elastic bandages

Keeping your first aid kit stocked ensures you can handle different injuries and scenarios as they happen. A well-stocked first-aid kit can be the difference between life and death.

Shop Our Selection of First Aid Kits and Medical Bags to Prepare for Emergencies

You’ll need a reliable place to keep all your first aid supplies, whether you’re preparing for the battlefield or want to be prepared in every scenario. Military Luggage Company keeps a wide selection of medical field bags, packs, and trauma kits so you can handle emergency medical situations as they happen. Feel more confident in the field and on the battlefield with all your medical supplies tucked away in a high-quality bag from MLC.