Emergency War Surgery NATO Handbook: Part III: General Considerations of Wound Management: Chapter XIV: War Surgery Within the Division

Echelons of Care

United States Department of Defense

The battalion surgeon is responsible for first echelon medical care. This equates to responsibility for supervision of the line medics assigned directly to infantry platoons as well as operation of the battalion aid station. The surgeon must be certain that all of his medics, whether assigned to rifle platoons or to the aid station, are trained and maintained to the highest possible standards achievable. Only by continual training of the medical personnel can the surgeon provide efficient and effective combat health care.

The ambulance section transports casualties from the battlefield to the aid station. Higher echelon ambulances, either ground or air, will move the casualty from the aid station to a higher level of care or, depending on the circumstances, may evacuate directly from the battlefield to a surgical facility.

Medics are all formally trained to the same level; however, their duties and subsequent practical experience will vary. The medic in the field will be primarily concerned with the provision of first aid, dealing with the airway, applying compression dressings for hemorrhage, stabilizing fractures, and initiating intravenous fluid administration. The aid station medics assist the battalion surgeon with sick call and with combat casualty care. Aid station combat casualty care consists largely of resuscitative measures as described in other chapters of this text.

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Operational Medicine 2001

Health Care in Military Settings

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