Prolonged Field Care Podcast

Rocky Farr - Death of the Golden Hour

Jun 13, 2025
Rocky Farr, a retired Special Forces medic and current educator in Tampa, dives into the dynamic world of unconventional warfare and its medical implications. He discusses the critical role of medics in sustaining operations and the historical evolution of medical support in guerrilla warfare. Emphasizing the golden hour's significance, Farr argues for the need to adapt medical practices to modern combat realities. He highlights the importance of ongoing training and challenges traditional methods, envisioning a future where Special Forces operate with agility and creativity in medical care.
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INSIGHT

UW Creates Long-Term Medical Demand

  • Unconventional warfare (UW) missions create prolonged timelines that increase medical needs beyond combat trauma.
  • Rocky Farr highlights that 20% of Special Forces structure is medical, so UW demands substantial medical planning.
ANECDOTE

Partisan Mountain Hospitals

  • Yugoslav partisans built dispersed mountain hospitals and evacuated wounded by horses to avoid German detection.
  • Rocky Farr cites the book Partisan Hospitals of Yugoslavia to show how guerrillas sustained forces with improvised medical systems.
ANECDOTE

Medic Who Saved A Leader

  • An OSS medic in China treated a Vietnamese leader dying of malaria and later that medic saved Ho Chi Minh's life as part of Aaron Bank's efforts.
  • Farr uses this story to show medics' outsized influence in UW relationships and outcomes.
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