Life's Lesson: Fit to Survive Trauma

I am not sure how I am going to touch this topic, and it is one that I am sure will cause much debate and contentiousness. I will try to illustrate my point as much as possible with real life examples, but I am going to avoid getting to technical with medical terminology and physiology. I know some of my readers are in France, and I must keep it simple.

To start off, lets begin with a definition of physical fitness that applies to Jay’s world. Physical Fitness; The bodies ability to react to physical strain with little change in vital signs, i.e., Heart rate, Respirations and blood pressure. Here is a simple example. Your heart rate is 80 beats per minute, and you walk up five stairs. Your heart rate is now 110. You are not physically fit. Simple example number 2. Your heart rate is 80 beats per minute, and you walk up 6 flights of stairs. Your heart beat is now 88 beats per minute. You are physically fit.

How does Jays definition of fitness apply to combatants in a war zone and how does fitness help us to survive trauma? Good questions. The human body has very simple functions. These functions are made complicated by several other factors but the principles are simple. The heart must pump blood. Simple. Add 20 lbs of fat, a lung full of tar, a steep incline, and dehydration and now the pumping of blood is not that simple. Add a bullet wound, or a broken leg, and what are the chances of survival?

There was a video clip a couple of years ago, maybe on 20/20 or 60 minutes or some such news organization, and it showed an Afghan man getting shot in the eye with a round from an AK-47, falling down a 15’ berm, and getting up and walking prior to the trip to the hospital. He later died from his injuries, but that was not until several hours later. How did a man shot in the head survive that long? Again, no rocket science, but I am going to keep it simple. The man was fit. He was young, or at least not “old”, he is a non smoker, non alcohol drinker, (Muslim in a tobacco and alcohol free area) and he has no mechanical transportation, which means he walks up and down the mountains of Afghanistan daily. His percent body fat was most likely less then 12%, (but I have no way of knowing that). When this mans head was mortally wounded, his body was strong enough to continue functioning. How many of us could walk after being shot in the brain through our eye? I pray I never find out that I am that strong.

Recently, I had to send one friend home, and bury another. Both had similar injuries, but one lived and one died. One was a young late twenties, and another was early 60’s. One had spent 10 years in Special Forces conditioning his body for combat, and the other was a retired police detective, that spent his career eating Twinkies and smoking. Conditioning the body for combat will increase your chances of survival.

Another friend lost his leg recently after an explosion. The leg was saved by the doctors, but my friends blood pressure could not take the strain of the injuries. He lost his leg due to lack of blood flow. Why could his heart not effectively perfuse (big word, sorry French guys) why could his heart not get enough blood to his leg? Maybe it was because he was 60 lbs over weight, and he was a smoker, or maybe it was just that the injury was to severe. Several weeks later I sent home a friend with a similar injury, but in all fairness, not as severe, but he kept his leg. Yes, it was after a colostomy bag, and some removal of intestines, but he will have a full recovery and lose the bag. The second guy was a walking fitness machine. He was the same age, but 60 lbs lighter. He didn’t smoke, and had a healthy eating plan.

I will get slightly more technical, but not to much, so please, if I don’t give the exact scientific formula for Pi, don’t write a tag or reply, I am trying to keep it simple for the French guys. When the body sustains an injury, it tells the brain…I need “x” amount of help. Lets say….oxygen. The body tells the brain…I need 10 % more oxygen. A man that runs three times a week, develops more red blood cells in his system. The more red blood cells you have, the more oxygen your blood delivers. The more oxygen your body delivers in one pump, the less your heart has to pump. So if your in shape and you need more oxygen, your heart will go from 80 to 88. If you are unfit, your heart rate will go from 80 to 120 or higher. Do a check tonight. If you are a “couch potato, and have no regular exercise, sit at the bottom of a staircase for 1 minute. Check your heart rate. Walk up the flight of stairs, and as soon as you get to the top, check your heart rate again. I am not going to give you a percentage or ideal heart rate, because everyone is different, just note the number. Over the next two weeks, walk up two flights of stairs every day for five days each week, (total of ten days) and then do this test again. You should see a drop in your heart rate. Ask yourself some questions, am I winded? Does my chest hurt? Can I feel a strain in my chest? Am I sweating? If you get out of breath with a few stairs imagine what your chances of surviving a bullet wound would be, or for you non-combatants, lets keep it practical, what would your chances of surviving a car accident be? Your ability to survive a traumatic injury to your body, is directly related to your physical fitness. If you want to go home alive, you must be physically fit. Do you need to be able to bench press 225 lbs? No. Do you need to be able to run a marathon? No. Keep in mind the definition of fitness in Jay’s world. The more your body can maintain its vital signs during physical exertion with little or no change, the more fit you are. Every person will be different but every person can improve on where they are now.

Let’s say, you’re a bunny hugging poof convict French wannabe. Your in the park and a homeless guy bothers you and your woman, and maybe in front of your young child. If you don’t have the stamina or fitness to punch the guy in the eye, chances are, you wont survive a kick to the liver by a Muslim youth thug rioting in the streets because his gang member friends were arrested by the one French police man that didn’t run away.

A recent Hero of mine is a man named, oh, I don’t know…simple name, we’ll call him Jim. Jim works out maybe 4 times a week. Nothing to strenuous, and nothing to technical. He does not measure his protein or carbohydrates, and he does not keep a journal of the reps or sets he’s done, he just lifts a few weights, and runs a little. I would not call his fitness routine difficult. In fact, it is rather lame. He does not smoke, nor does he eat unhealthy. He is average. A few months ago, Jims car was blown up in an IED. Four other people in the car were killed and I believe Jim was the only survivor. His foot was partially blown off and his body was just riddled with shrapnel and burns. He exited the vehicle, gained fire superiority with his SAW, and then rescued and performed first aid on the others that were injured. “Jim” went home for a few months, and has now returned to full duty. Had Jim been out of shape, or fat, or a smoker, or French, I seriously doubt he would been able to return to duty let alone have survived.

So where am I going with all this? You must be fit to survive. You cannot be both weak and a survivor. You will not go home.

I went longer then I wanted, and left out some examples of what I wanted to get across. I will write a few more posts on some aspects of fitness, but I am not going to give advice on what to do or how to do it, I will only share examples of things that have worked in my life, and it is up to you to find what you need to make you fit to survive trauma.

Don’t be French.