FLINT, MI – Hurley Medical Center is now one of four civilian institutions in the United States that participates in Special Operations Combat Medics Training Program for the U.S. Military, as the Flint facility began training six combat medics on May 4.

The directors of the medical facility announced that earlier this week, students began training as part of their occupational specialty training requirements.

The SOCMs will receive training in pharmaceutical calculations, anatomy and physiology, physical examination, basic lab and radiology, clinical pathology, preventative medicine, routine and emergency medical care, tactical combat casualty care and trauma management.

After the medics’ initial training at Fort Bragg army base near Fayetteville, North Carolina, students began a one-month period of highly supervised, hands-on training in high acuity areas in high acuity medical centers like Hurley.

The overall goal for these SOCMs is to provide care for the wounded for up to 72 hours since many missions are in areas with limited access or ability to evacuate to more definitive care, such as the mountains of Afghanistan.

“We are honored to be chosen as a civilian site for SOCM training,” said Michael Jaggi, vice president and Chief Medical Officer at Hurley Medical Center. “These medic students will work with teams of Hurley nurses, residents, physician assistants and attending physicians to learn and perform life-saving procedures that will help stabilize the wounded on the battle field until they reach a higher level of care.

“As the region’s premier academic medical center and the only Level I Trauma Center in our region, it’s a definite privilege to be a small part of what these medics will be able to accomplish.”

Lt. Col. LoryKay Wheeler, director of the SOCM course for the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, said that the information the students get from Hurley will be vital and could translate to saving lives of those in combat.

“The clinical training SOCM students will receive at Hurley is a vital element in ensuring our graduates have the requisite skills and confidence to perform the grave responsibility bestowed on them in combat,” Wheeler said.

“We are truly grateful for the amazing efforts made by the Hurley Medical Center staff in support of the SOCM training program, and we look forward to working together.”

The SOCMs not only provide first-line trauma care for members of the armed forces, but they also act as ambassadors.

Oftentimes, Wheeler said, they are the only medical personnel in a remote or underserved part of the world. As such, they have to have the skills for routine medical care, providing an indigenous population with treatment for a wide range of local diseases.

The medics will receive training in other Hurley departments, including anesthesiology and labor and delivery, where they will assist with deliveries and learn how to manage newborns and obstetrical complications; the operating room, where they will obtain and manage patient airways and assist in surgical procedures; various intensive care-units, such as neurosurgical and burn, where students assess and monitor patients who have traumatic brain injuries and assist with management of burns; and the pediatric ED, where students treat patients ranging from infants to adolescents.

The training conducted at Hurley Medical Center is the final phase of training for SOCM students. Upon completion, medics will return to Fort Bragg for course graduation.

Some SOCM graduates will continue occupational specialty training at the Special Forces Medical Sergeant Course. Most, however, will receive unit assignment orders and prepare for deployment.