Army medical first responders benefit from US training course

Apr 08, 2014 News

Several army medical first responders have benefitted from the combat lifesaving courses sponsored by the U.S. Embassy’s Military Liaison Office.
Representatives from the Florida National Guard took part in the training course on Tactical Life Saver (TLS) skills. This is the second time this lifesaving course has been offered in Guyana.
The hands-on training, which took place over three days at Camp Ayanganna from March 25, targeted medical first responders in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

Some of the Guyana Defence Force medical first responders on the training course.

“Twenty-five members of the GDF Medical Corps benefitted from the exchange of best practices and tactics to provide health service support for armed forces engaged in operations. Participants engaged in discussions and demonstrations on contemporary combat life saving techniques, first response, self-aid and buddy aid.”
According to the embassy, both the United States and Guyana were able to benefit from the exchange by sharing lessons learned and methods to better support natural disaster response and humanitarian assistance operations.
The Tactical Life Saver skills course is part of a longstanding relationship between the Guyana Defence Force and the Florida National Guard through the State Partnership Program (SPP). Members of the Florida National Guard have had several opportunities to share skills, experience and information in the context of bilateral exchanges with Guyana to enhance military capacity and capability.
United States National Guards enjoy such partnerships with 65 other countries worldwide, the embassy said.
Among the activities undertaken through the SPP over the years are an Officer Candidate Development School Visit, a Water Purification Assessment and performances and subject-matter exchanges by a U.S. Military Band.
Other programmes include integration of counter-illicit trafficking into GDF training, assessments of tactical communications, search and rescue skills and techniques, medical waste management and emergency disaster management planning.