US service members share Medical First Responder course with Mongolian counterparts

FIVE HILLS TRAINING AREA, Mongolia – U.S. service members conducted the Medical First Responder course for Khaan Quest 2012, Aug. 13-17, 2012. It was designed to train Mongolian Armed Forces to perform immediate life-saving first aid.

Khaan Quest is a regularly scheduled multinational exercise sponsored by U.S. Army Pacific and hosted annually by the Mongolia Armed Forces. It is held at the Mongolian Armed Forces Peace Support Center in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Aug. 11 -23, 2012.

“We are here to teach the Medical First Responder course to a select group of Mongolian Armed Forces non-commissioned officers,” said Staff Sgt. Aren Callahan, 1-297th Reconnaissance and Surveillance combat medic.

The 40-hour course aimed to enhance Mongolian Armed Forces training with new and current first aid procedures and care.

“This was a very important, essential course for us,” said Staff Sgt. P. Javkhlan, Mongolian Armed Forces biomedical maintenance technician.

Javkhlan graduated from the 68W Army Combat Medic course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in 2008.

“This training was well organized and supplemented with applicable practice exercises that were very helpful,” Javkhlan said.

Spc. Joseph P. Kelly II, 1-297th Reconnaissance and Surveillance Squadron medic, said he was impressed with the dedication and hard work of the course participants.

“The course participants are all motivated and that’s the coolest thing about it; they really get into the training and are picking up the content very fast,” Kelly said.

Twenty-five Mongolian Armed Forces soldiers completed a skills testing and validation followed by a graduation, Aug. 17.

A select group of five soldiers were chosen to receive additional instruction that will allow them to teach the Medical First Responder Course to non-medical soldiers, giving them skills that will prepare them to save the lives of fellow soldiers.