“Buddy! Buddy! Are you okay?” A Look at the Marine Corps Combat Lifesaver Course > US Marine Corps Flagship Product > News View

With a labored cry, a Jordanian soldier calls for help. He suffered a blast injury with amputation of both legs. A Marine dives into the trench where the injured soldier is and assesses the damage. A firefight rages just beyond the trench, and with no corpsman able to reach him, the Marine knows that if he doesn’t stop the bleeding, the soldier will be dead in about two minutes. The Marine applies two tourniquets from his kit and watches the soldier until the corpsman arrives on the scene. After escorting the soldier to safety, the Marine rejoins his squad and continues to repel the insurgent ambush.

This scenario was a real-world experience for Staff Sergeant. Michael A. Quintero in 2010 when he was able to rescue a soldier injured in combat with lifesaving skills and techniques he learned before his deployment. Now, Staff Sgt. Quintero, intelligence chief for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, watches as his junior Marines learn similar skills during a combat lifesaving course at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., March 28-30, 2022.

“CLS is a historic thing…everything we’ve done is based on what we’ve seen,” said David Laneygarcia, US Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class, with the 15th MEU. “In the past, there have been [battlefield] deaths simply due to hemorrhage or pneumothorax. We could have potentially saved lives if we had applied interventions like a tourniquet.

On the battlefield, CLS-trained Marines are a critical asset in stopping preventable deaths when a corpsman is unavailable or overwhelmed. However, the skills learned in CLS are not only relevant to the battlefield. The principles of CLS can be applied to a range of medical emergencies. Clearing the airway, mitigating blood loss, and splinting a life-threatening bone fracture are just a few of the life skills taught during CLS.

“No matter the situation, you don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know if your body is going to freeze, but you’re going to have the knowledge, and you’ll know what to do.” Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class David Laneygarcia

“It gives the Marines the ability to react in the event that there is no corpsman available or during a mass casualty situation,” Laneygarcia said. “It allows us, even when we are scattered, to react to any situation.”

The course was divided into three phases: care under fire, tactical care in the field and tactical evacuation.

In the care-under-fire phase, 15th MEU Marines learned a variety of buddy streaks. While maintaining superiority of fire against the enemy, the Marines dragged the victim out of the line of fire and applied a tourniquet to the victim within 90 seconds of injury.

During the tactical field care phase, Marines learned to go through a series of accident procedures such as checking for massive arterial bleeding, head trauma, and broken bones. During practical application, Marines mitigated the injuries of a simulated victim until the victim could receive a higher level of care.

In the TACEVAC phase, Marines learned to record their victim’s injuries and call a nine-line medical evacuation request for the victim to receive a higher level of care.

Although a CLS-qualified Marine is no substitute for a trained corpsman, CLS Marines possess the skills and equipment necessary to prolong a victim’s life until they can be escorted to a medical facility.

“No matter the situation, you don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know if your body is going to freeze, but you’re going to have the knowledge, and you’re going to know what you need to do,” Laneygarcia said. .