A story of US wounded in Iraq

Duty Honor Country

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This is a very moving article from CNN

'Life and death every day' for Iraq medics

By Cal Perry
CNN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- "Don't let me die! Please, don't let me die," the U.S. soldier said repeatedly as medics carried him to the trauma room.
His glazed eyes focused an Army chaplain kneeling over him. There was blood everywhere.


A roadside bomb that exploded next to his patrol vehicle sent shards of metal into his body and catapulted him from the vehicle.


He, like so many of the gravely wounded soldiers in Iraq, was rushed to the 10th Combat Support Hospital, where minutes or seconds can mean life or death.

"Am I going to live?" he asked, in a pleading, rhythmic voice.

"Hell, yes, you are," replied Lt. Col. David Steinbruner, one of the doctors.

Moments earlier, the soldier asked the medics to keep his leg from falling off the gurney as they hurried him into the emergency room. The blast tore the flesh from the bone. His left hand was just as bad -- a "near amputation," according to one of the doctors.

Less than 5 feet away, a friend and fellow soldier lay dead, his body placed in a black body bag and zipped up.

"It's life and death, every day," said Lt. Col. Bob Mazur, another doctor.
These men and women -- doctors, medics and nurses, many of them just 20 or 21 years old -- have saved the lives of numerous servicemen and women who in any previous war may have come home in flag-draped coffins.

CNN has withheld the names of the wounded soldiers for privacy concerns.
In Iraq, roughly 17,500 U.S. troops have been wounded, and nearly 2,500 have been killed. The survival rate is significantly higher than in previous wars, and much credit goes to those working to save lives in places such as the 10th Combat Support Hospital.

"If you look at the overall death rate ... the case fatality rate is cut in half from Vietnam to now. And again I think that's due to better training, tactical combat casualty training," said Col. John Holcomb, the senior surgeon at the hospital.

At least eight doctors and nurses worked on the soldier with the shredded leg -- their arms and clothes drenched in his blood. His femur protruded from his upper thigh.

A nurse clutched one of his hands.

Outside in the hall, sat the clothes of these wounded men -- or their "battle rattle," as it's called. Flak jackets lay blown in half, boots drenched in blood.
Down the hall, a private first class who was driving the vehicle was put gingerly on a bed. He was in better shape than his comrades despite bad burns on his hands and metal in his neck. Still filled with adrenaline, he breathlessly relived the attack for the nurse.

"It just exploded. On the left side or under the vehicle -- I'm not sure. Everything was on fire," he said. "I got out through the gunner's position and got one more out."

As the doctors and nurses work, the captain of the wounded soldiers' unit sat, head in hands, torn up. At times, he spoke to his commanding officer, a major, in an inaudible tone. Single tears ran down his cheeks.

The private called his wife and explained what happened, followed by a short smile. "I'm fine, I'm going to be OK. That's fine, fine; you just go ahead and pray. Pray."

Steinbruner took the phone and spoke soothingly: "He's going to be fine -- you hang in there now." He turned, shaking his head: "She's totally in shock."

'Don't die on me'

Back in the main trauma room, the soldier hung on, fighting with every breath. He remained conscious. Steinbruner suggested putting him under anesthesia completely.

"He's a sick boy. We need to put him down. He's totally with it. He said, 'Please, don't let me die.'"

"Just breathe deep -- there we go, nice and deep. ... You're a healthy guy," Steinbruner told the soldier.

"I'm not going to die -- am I?"

"Look, I promise -- I wouldn't lie to you," Steinbruner said.

Serving as both doctor and impromptu commanding officer, Steinbruner added, "Don't you dare try to die on me. I didn't give you permission."
Through a condensed face mask, the soldier wheezed and coughed, "Am I gonna lose the f------ leg?"

"I don't know," Steinbruner replied. "We'll try to save it if we can, OK? I just don't know. I can't give you an answer on that."

The near dozen doctors, medics and nurses stopped the blood from pouring out of him and prepared to send him to surgery in an attempt to save his leg and hand.

"Thank you, sir," Steinbruner said to the senior surgeon, Holcomb, while taking off his blood-drenched gloves and tossing them in the trash.

The surgery was a success. The soldier survived and kept his leg for the time being. Once close to death, he is now being treated at a U.S. military facility in Germany.

"He asked me if he's going to lose his leg, and I said, 'I don't know,' " Steinbruner said minutes after working to save the soldier's life. "I never lie to them. I'll say to them, 'I just don't know.' It was tough. It's tough."
He paused in thought. "That's the kind of thing we face out there. ... I mean ... I think there were several killed out there as well."

He paused again and said, "I'm now going to go take care of his buddy." And then he walked away and went back to work.
 
:salute: Thank you to all the medical personnel including doctors who are serving and seeing scenes like that everyday.
 
See, some people just dont realize that doctors go through more trauma than the men and women on the front lines...The doctors have to go through seeing men cry like newborns. They have to go through hearing a wifes voice and sobs as he phones her to tell her that her husband couldnt make it. The medical personnel have to deal with all of this and continue saving lives. I could never be a part of that. My hat is off to the medics over there.
 
C/1Lt Henderson said:
See, some people just dont realize that doctors go through more trauma than the men and women on the front lines...The doctors have to go through seeing men cry like newborns. They have to go through hearing a wifes voice and sobs as he phones her to tell her that her husband couldnt make it. The medical personnel have to deal with all of this and continue saving lives. I could never be a part of that. My hat is off to the medics over there.

Wives are not notified by telephone of deaths. Most of the time the command staff or (more often) a casualty notification officer (sometimes) accompanied by a doctor (Psych or medical) will inform the family.

Doctors will sometimes call and notifiy the family of injury, however.


 
Combat Medics, I'd buy them a round of drinks any day of the week. Hell, I'd fight and kill for them.

They saved my life too.

I thank them everyday and pray for their safety.
 
Reminds me of this story that was posted a while back:
http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11697

Good stuff.

C/1Lt Henderson said:
See, some people just dont realize that doctors go through more trauma than the men and women on the front lines...
It happens on the civilian side, too. As a ski patroller, I lost a beautiful 17 year-old girl after she hit a tree at approximately 35-40 MPH (estimated by NYS Police as part of their investigation), without a helmet. None of us that worked on her slept that night, and I still think about her from time to time (this happened in JAN 2004). The person who had it worst was the doc who called her parents to tell her she'd been in an accident, as he has children her age.
 
Sure does...All doctors get my unwaivering respect, gratitude, and sympathy for that matter.Let me change that...All MEDICAL PERSONNEL get my unwaivering respect, gratitude, and sympathy.
 
Thank God for these folks. The soldiers on the sharp end, and the docs that put them back together again. I can't even imagine what it'd be like from either side.

Imagine how many more kids could have come home from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam if this level of training and technology had been available then. They certainly would have been different wars.
 
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