I've been shot!

Self Aid Buddy Care (SABC): I wont go into too much detail on this one, but the bottom line is that SABC saves lives during combat situations. Since this has been executed there has been over a 90% jump in lives saved. The troops that are treated with SABC make it to a hospital, and once there, their chances of survival are almost guaranteed. On this day we watched hours of powerpoint briefings on life saving skills. Once the video was finished we got to practice those skills. After we honed our skills our instructor had a special drill for us to complete. A few of the lucky ones (included yours truly), got to wear some pretty realistic wounds and act as if we had been injured. Injuries included: head wounds, leg, arm, fractures, chest wound, and others.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123046292

Here is me seriously having a bad day.
Ouch! How do you treat that!
During this exercise you have a 3 person team. 2 medics accompanied by 1 security force (SF). There were 3 wounded individuals that each team had 15 minutes to treat. The job of the SF is to protect the medics & wounded from natives and terrorists. It kind of sucks for the SF because they have a 360 perimeter to watch over. Meanwhile the medics have a few minutes to stop the bleeding, patch em up, and haul 'em back to a hospital/safety, with whatever supplies they have left. By the 3rd wounded, you really have to be creative in treating them because you are short on supplies.

See the SF guarding against an unwanted while the medics carry a wounded to a helicopter. The wounded guy is the biggest guy in our flight, 6'4!

Keep up the good work only 1 left to go!One unknown fact is that because of the military's huge success in saving the lives of our wounded, the total for our wounded soldiers has sky rocketed. Today our wounded count is over 30,000. 'Wounded' doesn't mean a flesh wound, it usually means missing a limb, permanently injured, or head wound. These brave warriors need our help and so do their wives and children.

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

http://www.nmcrs.org/

http://www.aerhq.org/

http://www.afas.org/

Time Machine

Because it is not possible to update the blog on a regular basis and we want to include all our fun adventures, this will lead to our blog misleading you on the events and dates. But fear not! We will keep you in the loop by telling you roughly when the post took place. Any events from the past will be labeled "Blast From the Past." So in a way, the blog can take you back in time to catch up on the present, which will lead to the future. I have no idea if that made since but it sounded cool. So in the not so distant future expect some updates from the past, as well as updates from the present... heheeehhe

Our Wonderful Weekend

What a surprise for our family! Chris popped over for a two-day visit this last weekend. What a way to say "you're almost there." We sure enjoyed being together as a family again. He even took me to see a movie, like a real date (I sure miss those). Evelynn and Joseph couldn't get enough of him, and then like kids do, adapted quickly. I never took it for granted. It was one less diaper I had to change, an extra nap on Sunday, a little help with the breakfast, someone to talk to whose favorite question isn't "why?" It was surely wonderful to have my best friend home with me. I am so excited to get to SC and be a whole family again. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers. Loves to all!