The US Army Combat Lifesaver Course is an official medical training course conducted by the US Army. The course is intended to provide an intermediate step between the buddy aid-style basic life support taught to every soldier and the advanced life support skills that are taught to US Army Combat Medics and to US Army Special Forces Medical Sergeants^{[citation needed]} ( MOS 68W and MOS 18D respectively).^[1]

Course outline

• 40 hours theory & practical instruction
• 50 question written exam (pass/fail), 70% minimum score
• 20 minute practical exam (pass/fail), 100% minimum score

While a CLS certification is technically permanent, soldiers in Priority 1 units (actively-deploying brigade combat teams, for example) must retake the course once a year to retain their certification.^[2][3]

Scope of curriculum

Aside from basic first aid, Combat Lifesavers are also taught to identify and perform the correct pre-hospital treatment for:

• Tension pneumothorax produced by a penetrating (bullet/frag) or non-penetrating (explosive barotrauma) lung injury
• Vascular hypovolemia produced by uncontrolled external hemorrhage
• External arterial hemorrhage (especially from an extremity)
• Destabilized spinal cord injuries
• Sucking chest wound produced by a penetrating (bullet/frag) chest injury
• Respiratory failure produced by a non patent airway in an unconscious or semi-conscious casualty

Combat Lifesavers are not, however, trained or permitted to perform (among other things) laryngoscopy, single lumen tracheal intubation or any kind of surgery (such as emergency cricothyrotomy)