Quote:
Originally Posted by Surgicalcric
I dont understand the fascination with medics carrying an ass ton of medical supplies on their armor. A few TQs I understand (CUF) but your vest should be for bullets, bombs (grenades), and comms not cric kits, kerlix and ace wraps or OALES.
Trim the fat, put it in a bag (fanny pack or M9-style), and have a larger bag for MCIs/resupply handy in a vehicle if mounted or carry it if the mission will lead you away from vehicles.
There is nothing like having so much crap on your person that you become immobile or cant get out of the vehicle quickly.
|
I cannot speak for anyone except me, but when I deployed I never had comms or grenades. I was lucky to have enough ammo. My first convoy that I got put out on my unit only gave me a single magazine for Force Pro. We made contact and I had a 30 round magazine and a pocket knife. I was less than thrilled. As it stands now, we do not have enough comms for the team leaders to all have a radio, much less the medic. I am not sure how much will change as it gets closer to our deployment, but I am also not holding my breath for grenades either. My chain of command is under the impression that medics cannot carry grenades to begin with. I brought in a copy of Geneva to articulate my point, brought up the fact that I do not have a Geneva Health Care Provider ID card, etc but was told that it was very doubtful anyone would get grenades, much less the medic. "We will be lucky if we get flashbangs."
In short, I have a lot of space on my vest (in part because I need to run more) that I can do something with. My previous deployment I just ended up with a 3 mag shingle on my left, a 3 mag shingle on my center, a canteen pouch with TCCC stuff on my right, my IFAK near my right kidney, and a TQ/strap cutter on my upper center. I LOVED having that little on. However, for the most part the most dangerous thing that I did was go to the front gate to pick up a LN in our ambulance. We are currently training with ASVs, so I am really tempted to go with as thin of a kit as I can responsibly get away with. I hate how small those ASVs seem to be... The fact that I have so much space on my vest I guess is the driving factor behind wanting to put some medical stuff there. 6 magazines or 6 shotgun strips, a TQ, an IFAK, and a cutter do not take up that much space. I would love to fill the remainder with grenades, comms, etc but I don't have them, so I guess my first inclination is to put medical stuff there.
A question for those medics far more experienced than I- how did the Ranger Medic Handbook packing list come to be? Is there a study behind it? It seems that many of you adamantly disagree and I am inclined to go with your advice over a list in the back of a book. However, if there is this much negative blow back from you guys who obviously know your stuff, I am just wondering who came up with that list and why.