Then it was on to War Week, which is a 72-hour continuous operation.
68 WHISKEY HOW TO
We learned how to triage, how to work on a Battalion Aid Station and how to be a medic in an evacuation situation,” Robertson said. “We also did surgical cricothyroidotomies on pig throats. We learned how to do enemy prisoner of war searches, how to carry litters with the heaviest patients possible.”Īt 5’5″ and 140 lbs, she had to carry a 6’5″ 250lb male. “We learned about prolonged field care, a new concept that’s emerging in combat medicine. It sounds easy until you realize you can get hit with any situation and they all take time, so you have to move quickly all while keeping yourself and your patient calm and keeping your issued weapon tucked on your legs while you do the entire assessment on your knees,” Robertson said.Īt the end of whiskey phase, the medics test out on their skills and CCAs to prepare for Camp Bullis which is a mock forward operating base that is part of Joint Base San Antonio which is used as a field environment for training.”We were issued M4A1s (the standard weapon for brigade combat teams), we slept in tents and we had three days of classes before the fun stuff started,” Robertson said.
68 WHISKEY FULL
“You move your patient and begin treating them and you have 30 minutes to complete your full assessment before they get evacuated. She also trained in Combat Casualty Assessment which includes three phases of casualty care: care under fire, tactical field care and tactical evacuation care. Most of them have to be done within a 3-5 minute window so you have to learn to move quickly,” Robertson said. “All of the skills are tested towards the end of the course. They also learned surgical cricthyroidotomy (commonly known as emergency airway puncture), IVs and fluid resuscitation and drug administration as well as how to perform a needle decompression in the event of a pneumothorax, occlusive dressings, packing and bandaging wounds, pelvic binders, burn treatment and other lesser skills. This is followed by field craft where the medics learned how to put on a tourniquet and the importance it has on the battlefield. That’s when the first phase of “whiskey training” kicked in, which is limited promary care, where combats learn how to treat in a clinic-type setting. After taking her All Skills training, she took the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician’s examination to become licensed.
Each day included studying multiple chapters and and each week saw her taking 1-2 tests. Robertson said the first eight weeks of training consisted of EMT-B – learning basic life saving measures like CPR, oxygen supplementation, anatomy and physiology.
Needless to say, this means that Robertson’s Advanced Individual Training (AIT) placed a lot of focus on fitness and discipline. “68 Whiskey” or 68W is one of the army’s most physically demanding Military Occupation Codes because medics have to carry whatever gear is required as well as their full ruck and their weapon in addition to their medical equipment. She also worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Occupational Medicine Center as a phlebotomist. Before joining the army, Robertson had obtained her EMT-Basic certificate from UNM-LA and earned her Associate’s degree in Emergency Management and Fire Science. Army PFC Michaela Robertson is now a fully-trained army combat medic, an official “68 Whiskey”. Courtesy photoīY MAIRE Alamos High School 2018 alumna and U.S. Army PFC Michaela Robertson graduated from AIT earlier this month and is now an official army combat medic.
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