I've seen the term "first aid man" and "company aid man" both be used. Anyway, I am looking for resources that detail what sorts of wounds US army combat medics were expected to be able to treat or stabilize and how they were instructed to go about it. Thank you
OP be aware, the first manual in Opana's link, Basic Field Manual, First Aid for Soldiers, doesn't directly address your question because the information in it is the level of training that all soldiers/Marines received. Any rifleman, tanker, truck driver, cook, radioman, etc. should be able to perform the tasks described in the manual.The medic would have additional training over and above what is shown in the manual. There are additional medical manuals listed further down and once I have had a chance to peruse them I'll be able to which might be applicable to a field medics training.
Yeah, I had the same issue with the manual. The closest I have come is a manual for the hospital corpsman and so I was wondering if the army had a similar manual for the medical department.
As our resident jarhead says, there are several others there. You may also want to snoop around at CMH and NHHC.
I think this may be it: TM 8-220 Medical Department Soldier's Handbook, 1941 : United States. Surgeon General's Office : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Digital Collections - National Library of Medicine This is the "Instructors' guide for Medical Department Mobilization Training Program 8-1: for medical units or installations and Medical Department technicians" The guide describes the periods, subjects, and resources that were taught or used in training. Medical Aid starts at Pg 273
This might help as well. The WW2 Medical Detachment Infantry Regiment | WW2 US Medical Research Centre
You see in old films the medic stab a syringe into a wounded man...my understanding the syringe is Morphine...given the incidences of addiction and what (non military) addicts would do to get their hands on this, does the military still use Morphine? How well is it stored?
A friend of mine had an interesting "experience" with it in Vietnam so the US was still using it then. A single shot or even a number if you are in serious pain probably won't get you addicted. Something you'd want to store under lock and key though.
Opiods are used still. Access to them is restricted, of course. Yep, over-use will get that monkey on your back. On the gripping hand, six of them real quick will make passing easier.
Yes, although the fentanyl "lollipop" is supplanting it. All such drugs are strictly controlled by regulation, but abuses of course occur.
Yes morphine is still used, but it has been augmented by several other options based upon newer medications and a better understanding of how said medications effect the casualty. Morphine used to be primarily administered intramuscularly (IM) which is what you are referring to when a wounded soldier was stabbed by a morphine syrette in a large muscle group. It is now found to be more efficacious to administer the morphine intravenously. Now, for mild to moderate pain without hemorrhagic or pulmonary complications where it is desirable for the casualty to retain his sensory and remaining functional abilities a CWMP (Combat Wound Medication Packet) is administered orally. It consists of 15mg of Meloxicam, an NSAID medication that does not inhibit platelet formation; 2 x 650mg Acetaminophen extended release tablets (1300mg total dose) q8h. For moderate to severe pain where hemorrhagic shock or respiratory collapse is not a risk factor, transmucosal Fentanyl Citrate 800mcg in lozenge form (OTFC). It is rapid onset and moderately long acting. Where hypovolemic shock or pulmonary distress make administration of OTFC contraindicated, Ketamine or morphine are the drugs of choice, ketamine being the new option. Originally, when Ketamine was introduced as an alternative, it was contraindicated for head injuries due to fear of increased intracranial pressure. That has since been obviated as a concern with additional studies of battlefield trauma. Increased intraocular pressure is also a concern when related to eye wounds, and ketamine's relationship to schizophrenia is still being studied. Morphine administration is still the predominant drug used by the field medic when treating the casualty at point of injury (POI). Ketamine and OTFC are the main drug used during evacuation, primarily by flight medics.
I recall reading that the medic would write an M on the man's forehead so others in the evac process would know he'd been given morphine and not overdose him (I guess they must have been issued some kind of marker).
My friend I referenced above apparently got a medic or two without markers. He got something in his eye (they think it was a fragment from a mortar round the previous day. He didn't notice it when he got it but the next morning it was causing him some considerable pain and discomfort. The medic gave him a shot and they medevacked him. Then he got another shot on the copter. I'm forgetting all the details but may have gotten another shot or to of morphine by the time he got the aid station/hospital where they removed the fragment. Afterward he had a very vivid nightmare (they were getting over run) and when he was woken up by a medic he found his hands around said medics throat. For the rest of his stay there they woke him by wiggling one of his toes. He never had another such reaction or any drug problems.