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I'm sure there's many incredible things these Spec Ops troops have done that will never make the news because of their covert nature.
The bravery of these Ranger medics in tending to the wounded under extreme enemy fire is incredible enough, but these Rangers also developed an amazing new way of helping the wounded in battle. Basically, Rangers with universal blood donor O type have the ability to withdraw their own blood into packets and then have this fresh blood transfused into the wounded in real time.
Bowen and Able then grabbed the wounded Rangers and brought them out of the breach to a safe area. The casualties were hit in the legs and arms, and one had a gaping hole in his chest. The Ranger medics conducted the usual mix of life-saving measures, including applying tourniquets, a needle chest decompression, intravenous lines and administering tranexamic acid, which helps control hemorrhaging.
By the time the casualties were brought to a collection point, the medics had already exhausted their two units of cold-stored whole blood, “the stock every Ranger medic carries into combat with them,” according to the news release.
The casualty collection point was taking machine gun fire, and a fragmentation grande detonated about 15 meters away. During the ensuing gunfight, a fourth casualty stumbled to the medics, “blood gushing from a wound on the left side of his neck,” the release reads.
“As he fell into me with his multi-purpose canine still attached to his belt, I told him to put pressure on the wound. He replied, ‘I’m trying!’” Bowen said in the release.
Bowen then placed his middle finger into the neck wound to stop blood loss before performing an emergency cricothyroidotomy — an incision that punctures the cricothyroid membrane on the throat to create a new airway. The medics were forced to do these procedures while lying on the ground due to the incoming rounds.
While the Ranger with the neck wound was stabilized, the other wounded troops were quickly bleeding out.
All their pre-stocked blood was already used, and the Rangers were forced to resort to an innovative technique called the Ranger O-Low Titre protocol, or ROLO.
Thank you for sharing! Awesome- those rangers are true heroes!
They are amazing. Two of my sons and two grandsons are Rangers, so I know their medics are awesome. One fun fact is that the medic deployed with my son to Africa was cross trained as a meat inspector, because his small group would be getting their food from the village.
^^^interesting... good luck and God Bless to your sons and grandsons.
and remember it was Medic Desmond Doss who was a Medal of Honor winner. I personally believe medics are respected and admired by those they serve. These two rangers are examples of courage shown. and innovation. well deserved awards
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