In its first semester as a student organization at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, the Military Medicine Interest Group recently hosted the Stop the Bleed and Tactical Combat Casualty Care training event. The event educated students and future military physicians on transporting and caring for individuals with traumatic bleeding.
The tactical combat casualty care training event, held in the General Education Building, was led by Captain Chase Morris, Army medical officer, and Staff Sergeant Eryne McGlone, Army combat medic, teaching how to save an individual from bleeding to death, as well as the proper transport of injured patients from warfare or dangerous environments to the nearest hospital.
The event also taught skills on applying pressure to stabilize a patient, packing a hemorrhaging wound, and applying a tourniquet to reduce excessive blood loss.
“My aim was to plan an event that could incorporate a skillset to be a useful tool from the frontlines to the home front,” said Lincoln Mitchell, Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and second-year medical student at UTHSC. “Having been certified by this invaluable course, attendees now possess the ability to transform from witnesses to lifesaving leaders that can stop the bleed and save a life.”
The Military Medicine Interest Group aims to connect UTHSC students who are passionate to serve the country through health care. The group includes former service members and students in the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP). The HPSP is a service scholarship program offered to students through the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force. The program covers all direct education costs, such as tuition, fees, books, health insurance, and provides a monthly stipend. In return, there is a one-year active-duty service commitment for each year of participation in the program, with a minimum commitment of three years.
“Although the club is comprised of many current HPSP students, we also have former service members in the club, and welcome all students with prior military background to join, as their experiences provide a valuable asset to those of us that are new to the military lifestyle,” Mitchell said.
The organization aspires to encourage students interested in health care careers in the military and the HPSP.
“While we all come from different backgrounds, colleges, and even military branches, we share a common goal having answered the call to provide the best health care possible to our nation’s warriors, the men and women selflessly willing to give it all in service to this nation,” he said. “That is an honor and a privilege we have decided to uphold, and wherever they are called across the globe to defend freedom, so are we.”