Tactical medicine. Provision of first aid

Tactical medicine is an activity to provide medical assistance to servicemen on the battlefield. They are carried out by specially trained personnel. His tasks include saving lives, transporting the victims, preventing the development of severe conditions.

Competent medical support in the context of military operations can prevent numerous losses among military personnel and civilians.

Tactical Medicine of Irregular War

This term arose against the backdrop of replenishing the experience and knowledge of domestic military medicine. Previously, this knowledge was not available to the general public, and methodical guides were published in a limited edition. Today, tactical medicine is a separate branch of knowledge. It appeared as a working experience in conditions of irregular wars.

Today, this direction can be found with the help of the book "Tactical Medicine of Modern Irregular War." The allowance will be useful not only to the serviceman, but also to the civilian population living in places of military conflicts. Its author is Yuri Evich. Tactical medicine in his book is presented as a series of simple and understandable first aid measures with detailed explanations. The author summarized his experience of medical practice in the context of a number of military conflicts.

Classification of injuries and tasks

They are described in detail by the manual on tactical medicine. The main types of damage received in combat are as follows:

• Various wounds;
• Injuries;
• Fractures;
• Burns;
• Frostbite.

In addition to providing assistance, the tactical physician is compelled to solve a number of related tasks. Among them are the following actions:

• Transportation of victims;
• Fire suppression of the enemy;
• Secret penetration into the rear to the whereabouts of the wounded;
• Personal evacuation of victims using military equipment.

The main damage can be complicated by bleeding, shock conditions, breathing disorders and cardiovascular activity. These states slow down the process of rendering assistance and can cause complications in case of untimely elimination. All necessary measures are carried out at lightning speed, directly on the scene. Tactical physician does not start retreat until he provides the safety of the wounded.

Help when injured

It can be inflicted by any kind of weapon - cold or gunshot, and also be the result of a mine-blast wave. By the nature of the application can be:

• Through with the presence of an inlet and an outlet;
• Blind, when there is only one hole;
• Tangential, applied to the surface of the body without deep penetration;
• Penetrating, having a different depth.

Any injury can have dangerous consequences: bleeding, violation of the integrity of internal organs, nerves, the development of infection. The tactics of assisting in this situation depends on the severity of the injury. But there are general principles to be followed for any injury. Namely:

• Stop bleeding;
• Application of dressings;
• Antimicrobial treatment of the wound.

The need for other activities is determined according to the complexity of the situation. If necessary, the person is given anesthesia in the form of intramuscular injection with a special syringe-tube.

More complex manipulations (stitching, draining) should be done only in case of emergency. The best solution would be to transport the victims to the nearest medical facility.

What to do with injuries?

Under trauma means bruises, dislocations and sprains. Tactical medicine in combat requires the adoption of the most basic and important measures:

• anesthesia;
• Immobilization (application of tires, fixation);
• Evacuation.

If the situation permits, it is additionally necessary to provide the victim with copious drinking, to provide an elevated position of the injured limb. With bruises impose a tight bandage, make local anesthesia by external means, provide further immobilization and evacuation. When injuring tendons and ligaments, as well as dislocations, the actions are similar. You can not independently adjust the dislocation, as it is easily confused with a fracture.

Types of fractures

This is the most common damage. There are the following types of fractures:

• Full, when the bone is broken completely;
• Incomplete - the bone is broken;
• Open - with a violation of the integrity of tissues;
• Closed, when the integrity of tissues is preserved.

Fracture is one of the most serious and dangerous types of trauma. Characterized by an unnatural shape of the limb, tenderness when touching, swelling, decreasing or lack of mobility. In addition, there is a crunch of rubbing broken bones and their fragments. Trauma is complicated by severe pain syndrome.

Help with fractures

Assisting with fractures, apply the following tactics:

• anesthesia;
• Immobilization;
• Evacuation.

With open fractures , a preliminary dressing and stopping bleeding are necessary. Fixing the broken bone, apply a tire, grasping both joints, ensuring their immobility. If there are no improvised means and tires, it is possible to pribintovat the damaged arm to the trunk, and the leg to the intact limb. Assistance for fractures depends on the severity of the situation.

With a fracture of the spine, no treatment is performed in the field! The victim is put on a rigid stretcher (the so-called shield). This involves at least three people: one takes by the neck, supporting the head with forearms, the second - for the lower back, the third - for the legs. They raise it at the same time. Then the victim is delivered to the medical facility as soon as possible.

Main types of burns

Burn is tissue damage caused by several kinds of effects:

• High temperature;
• Chemical means;
• Electric current;
• Radiation.

There are 4 degrees of severity of burns:

• I - redness of the skin at the burn site;
• II - formation of bubbles filled with liquid;
• III - the formation of necrotic (necrosis) areas of skin of different depths with the appearance of a scab;
• IV - complete necrosis of the skin, soft tissues, muscles, bones, charring.

As a rule, burns of 3 and 4 degrees are a real threat to life. Burns 1 and 2 tbsp. Called superficial, they heal within 2 weeks and do not pose a threat to life. If, of course, they do not affect more than 50% of the skin area.

How to help?

First aid for burns is to eliminate the traumatic factor: you need to extinguish the flame, remove burning clothing (but do not tear it off if it is stuck to the skin), take the victim out of the burning room, etc. If the flame engulfs a person, you need to press it with a burning area To the ground or to throw it with earth, cover with a dense cloth and press it, pour water. Remember that the action of napalm and white phosphorus can not be neutralized with water!

Further pre-hospital care for burns involves immediate cooling of the burned area. It is best to use water at room temperature, the cooling time is 20 minutes regardless of the burn area and its depth. Then it is necessary to provide anesthesia. For example, give the victim an antihistamine: "Suprastin" or "Claritin". In addition, it is necessary to assess the extent of the burn and the depth of the lesion, apply a bandage and evacuate the victim. For the treatment of injury using special means: "Panthenol", "Bepanten", anti-burn bandages "Apollo".

Important! If you have to act in a very smoke-fogged zone, you need to breathe through a cloth bandage moistened with water. Such a barrier will be short-lived. It is necessary either to moisten the bandage with fresh water often, or (based on the experience of fighting) to impregnate it with blood that is capable of binding carbon monoxide, which will allow it to last longer in the foci of smoke.

Help with frostbite and hypothermia

Most often frostbite is exposed to hands, feet, fingers, ears, nose. First, there is tingling, slight pain, the frostbite place turns red, then white, sensitivity is lost. If the frost-bitten part of the body is immediately warmed, it will take on a natural appearance after 3 hours. Long-term frostbite causes great danger. Depending on the depth of the lesion, they are divided into 4 degrees:

• 1 tbsp. - the skin whitens, loses sensitivity, then turns blue, edemas and itching appear.
• 2 tbsp. - the appearance of bubbles with a light liquid, necrosis of the upper layers of the skin.
• 3 tbsp. - the appearance of bubbles with bloody fluid, necrosis affects the deep tissue.
• 4 tbsp. - necrosis affects the muscle and bone tissue.

Tactical medicine with frostbite provides for the elimination of a traumatic factor - low temperature. The victim is delivered to the heat or wrapped, changed into dry clothes. Obligatory action is the imposition of a dressing that insulates heat, and transportation to a medical institution.

It is forbidden to rub the damaged places with snow, woolen gloves, alcohol, give alcohol inside, warm it with open fire from a fire or a torch. Symptoms of hypothermia are drowsiness, fatigue, apathy, loss of vitality. In the future, a person can lose consciousness with oppression and cessation of vital functions. The tactics of behavior in these cases are similar to those already described by us.