Fighting through shock?

[2ADMNLOVER]

I didn't faint and would not have been so aware of the face plant other than my eyepro was cockeyed with sod hanging. .

Just to clarify , are you saying you didn't know you faceplanted until you noticed the shifted eyepro and sod ?

More specifically , do you recall the moment of impact ?

 

[oldfb]

Bw. What you described and experienced was actually appropriate, expected and better than most typical reactions in real life situations.

How many people have you seen rolling on the ground screaming or crying in acute pain? I've seen too many accompanied by puking, fainting and much worse.

You get to keep your man card in my opinion but I'm just a slob milking the system for their hard earned money. So ymmmv!

Be well and mend fast brother.

 

[bwframe]

Just to clarify , are you saying you didn't know you faceplanted until you noticed the shifted eyepro and sod ?

No, I remember my face hitting the ground. I was bent over, so it wasn't long fall. I wouldn't have paid any attention other than my vision was impaired by the sod hanging in front of my eye.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

No, I remember my face hitting the ground.

Gotcha , not remembering would indicate a LOC , loss of conscienceness .

Shortly after shooing them away came the cold sweat and nausea.

That's the onset of shock , involuntary , not a whole lot you can do about it except treat it (absent a life threatening injury).

Once you realize your going into shock , the most important thing you can do is stay calm . If you freak out you'll make the situation worse .

A trick to help get through it is to control your breathing (not as hard as it sounds) .

Breath in deeply for a 3 count , 1 -1 thousand , 2 -1 thousand , 3 -1 thousand .

Hold the breath for a 3 count . Then exhale for a 3 count .

Repeat until you've slowed your heart / breathing rate and can logically figure out what happened , what to do about it and move on .

 

[HICKMAN]

Was the drill more combatives or were you more straining against someone?

Was the shock more from the physical injury or the mental side of"dang, I just got forked up"?

I'm wondering if adrenaline would normally over-ride the physical in a real situtation, but you didn't exerience that, being in a training scenario.

Good thread of discussion, sadly at your expense.

 

[jeremy]

I'm wondering if adrenaline would normally over-ride the physical in a real situtation, but you didn't exerience that, being in a training scenario

Sometimes...

Depends a lot on what is going on around you at the time as well. Literally everyone reacts differently to the real deal. There is no good way to train to experience it either.

I have seen Joes do excellent in Training Environments, just to defecate them selves when in the real thing. And Conversely, I have seen kids you would have thought would blow themselves up at the first opportunity, turn into the Heroes when the heat gets turned on. You just don't know until you get there...

 

[HICKMAN]

I have seen Joes do excellent in Training Environments, just to defecate them selves when in the real thing. And Conversely, I have seen kids you would have thought would blow themselves up at the first opportunity, turn into the Heroes when the heat gets turned on. You just don't know until you get there...

yeah, a co-worker of mine said the same thing happened on his ODA. That's the biatch of training, you just can't know until it hits the fan.

 

[jeremy]

yeah, a co-worker of mine said the same thing happened on his ODA. That's the biatch of training, you just can't know until it hits the fan.

Exactly...

Sadly so maybe...

To me it is a possible point to use in the discussion of making Training for the Military Community that much more difficult...

 

[bigdog25-06]

I feel like I need to chime in on this one, since I was BWFRAME's sparring partner (as it were). It was a combative drill. BW and I had done the drill a couple of times, and I wasn't quite getting it. As I recall it, BW told me something to the effect of "don't let me get my gun." (blue gun)

Now, if you've met BW, he's not a little guy, and is more than capable of putting up resistance, which he did. However, I am not a little guy, 6'3", 330# +.

Anyway, we started the drill, and I became SO task-fixated on securing BW's gun hand, the situation went down hill, FAST! I recall forcefully pulling BW's gun-hand away from his holster down and back: hard. This I believe turned him, and got him off balance. The last move I recall, before helping BW off the ground, was to plant my left forearm in the back of his right tricep/shoulder area, and pushing down hard while still controling his gun-hand.

This all happened VERY fast. Faster than I really would have thought possible.

All that said, BW was a good sport about the whole thing, considering what had just happened. I do regret that BW got hurt, but the situation tuned into a valueable training point for the class.

I do hope for a speedy recovery.

 

[bwframe]

...I do regret that BW got hurt, but the situation tuned into a valueable training point for the class.

I do hope for a speedy recovery.

Not your fault. You done what you were supposed to do. I did not, in more ways than one.

Thanks for the well wishes.
You guys surely know that I would NOT be discussing this in a public forum if I wasn't well into recovery. The belt to toe bruising and swelling have mostly faded. I haven't had to RICE for a couple days. I'm walking with very little limp and can tie my shoe with a little effort.

I will have weeks of continued recovery and conditioning to prevent further injury. That will go along with the muscle stretching and exercising that I should have been doing anyway, to have possibly prevented the injury in the first place.

 

[bwframe]

That's the onset of shock , involuntary , not a whole lot you can do about it except treat it (absent a life threatening injury).

Once you realize your going into shock , the most important thing you can do is stay calm . If you freak out you'll make the situation worse .

A trick to help get through it is to control your breathing (not as hard as it sounds) .

Breath in deeply for a 3 count , 1 -1 thousand , 2 -1 thousand , 3 -1 thousand .

Hold the breath for a 3 count . Then exhale for a 3 count .

Repeat until you've slowed your heart / breathing rate and can logically figure out what happened , what to do about it and move on .

Thank you very much! That is quite helpful.

 

[riverman67]

Glad youre feeling better BW
I did something similar a couple of years ago....walking off a step. At least you were training when it happened.
I stepped down and the hamstring just let go. It still gets TIGHT when I get tired.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

Your mind is your most powerful weapon. Many officers have died from wounds they could have survived, but they gave up. If you fight, you have a much better chance of staying alive.

 

[churchmouse]

Thank you very much! That is quite helpful.

This method works even in a high stress situation.

 

[GIJEW]

Regarding psychological shock, aside from having the right mindset, having a pre-planned response is critical. TRAINING is about ingraining REFLEXIVE responses, not academic education. Yes, you still have to keep your head in the fight, to assess and apply those responses--which segues back into mindset. The key to a combat mindset can probably be described as being proactive and determined in coping with and overcoming a threat, animate or otherwise. And sometimes the tactically appropriate response is to retreat. Flight isn't neccessarily the same as panic--just ask anyone who been under intense bombardment and run for cover like a roach trying to make it to the baseboard. Panic is being paralyzed by both fear and not knowing HOW to respond; mentally wallowing in helplessness or reacting thoughtlessly, not knowing how to respond. The obvious antidote is training and the determination to use it.
Having said that, it's still true that training only does so much and experience has to finish preparing you for psychological shock--after it's over. SLA Marshall's interviews with WWII soldiers is a good example. I remember the first time a parade of tracers went by my head, I had a moment of disbelief struggling to comprehend the world without me, my point of reference, in it.
That felt like a long ramble. thanks for your patience.

 

[bwframe]

Thanks again for the new info guys.