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The United States Army Combat Lifesaver Course is an Army Institute for Professional Development recognized course for the advancement in "self care" and "buddy care" for each individual soldier. The training correlates self-aid for each soldier to a professional level so that the soldiers can ensure survivability of not only themselves but their battle buddy for injuries that left untreated would prove to be life-threatening. First aid training is given to every soldier and each soldier is required to adhere to strict Army protocols for said training, upon successful completion of BCT (basic combat training) each soldier has been given the tools to perform basic life sustaining functions, as a non-medical specific trained soldier. On the other end of the spectrum you have a 68 Whiskey, whom is a soldier specifically trained and extensively certified in the medical aspect, the CLS course is somewhere between the two so that each and every soldier could essentially perform the lifesaving functions in the absence of a certified medical technician in order to further preserve the life of your brethren.
The non medically designated (MOS- military occupation specialty-Army job) combat lifesaver is basically a "non-medical" soldier that has the ability to perform a secondary (or in some cases a tertiary) mission during combat/ non combat deployments or operations CONUS/OCONUS, and can also assist 68W/ medics should the need arise, or bodies accumulate at a rate that a single medic cannot perform/ or function at the best of his/ or her ability without assistance. The relationship can also complement each other in cases where non-life-threatening care is accumulating and the accredited soldier can help perform basic functions while the fully certified medic performs his official duties, aid in preparing casualties/ CASEVAC (casualty evacuation), -granted the CLS certified soldier does not have combat duties to perform to ensure the safety of the medic, or other soldiers/ injured or otherwise.
The class/ course itself consists of a lot of hands on training with a fully certified medic(s), you will most likely be required to not only "stick" (referring to the slang army term- performing an intravenous fluid needle being inserted into the skin so as to give the patient fluids) another soldier, but also to get the duty performed on them as well in order to successfully complete the practical portion, as well as a written and tested portion with a total of 40 hours of edifying and practical instruction to fully and successfully complete the training course. With the extensive hands on training aside, the soldier is also required to successfully pass a test consisting of forty questions, followed by an actual practical evaluation of the soldiers accumulated skills to verify all the knowledge they were taught was in fact retained for not only their benefit, but for every other soldier/ civilian/ contractor they will ever come into contact with.
Upon successful completion of the CLS training course each participant will then receive a certificate of completion that will remain actively valid for one year from its issue date and will be required by priority 1 unit soldiers to be re-evaluated and must retake the course every year to remain valid, and actively deployable to a combat zone.