Doing radio interviews

I enjoy doing radio interviews and talking about what the combat medic is. It sheds some light on what the combat medic is, what the combat medic is not and brings exposure and some clarity. Plus I get a chance to plug my book: My Journey as a Combat Medic: From Desert Storm to Operation Enduring Freedom.

Some people equate the combat medic to that of a nurse. In some ways, they are correct, in other ways, they are two totally different jobs. The job description of the combat medic and the job description of the nurse have some overlay but both go in a different direction. I can say that because I was both a combat medic and a nurse . I served in the combat zone as a combat medic, but worked as a nurse in my civilian job.

Lets talk about some of the differences. The combat medic can perform emergency lifesaving skills that a typical RN could not perform. Let me quantify the RN role. I am comparing an RN here in the United States to that of the combat medic in a war zone. An RN does not insert emergency trach tube, perform emergent needle decompression or stick in ET tube or Chest tubes. A combat medic does. The education and training of the RN is more intense and of much longer duration than the combat medic. The combat medics experience in emergency trauma stablization surpasses the typical RN.  I know that this will make both RNs and combat medics mad when I say this, but it is my own opinion. I know that nurse practitioners and nurse anethetists can perform these roles, but I am not comparing advanced nursing practice to that of the combat medic. I can also say that become I am a nurse practitioner.
The initial training of the combat medic is several months, very intense and the training continues once the medic goes to his or her unit.

The similarities.. Both take care of the sick and wounded, Both must be compassionate in the care of others. I used to dislike the word compassionate in the past, but as I grew as a nurse, I learned that was compassionate about caring for my patients. The nurse, even a military nurse can not fully perform the function of a combat medic, because the combat medic is typically assigned a combat unit, the military nurse would typically have a hard time grasping some of the things that the combat medic has to do besides working on injured patients. The medic has other duties to include basic sick call, guard duty, health and welfare,  The eyes and the ears of the moral , mental health, and stablity of the members of the fighting unit. Both professions could be trained to do each other jobs, a medic can go to college to become a nurse ( I did) and a nurse can go through AIT to learn how to become a medic.

Back to radio inteviews. Each time I interview, the radio host brings up a good point about My Journey as a Combat Medic. I love when a host extrapolates and gets me into the interview. I enjoy this because it brings exposure to the combat medic, makes people want to read My Journey as a Combat Medic and educated the public about the men and women who work as I like to call "Warrior Healers".

www.armycombatmedic.com