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 aliasinkhorn rated 4 months ago - Angels of the battlefield
War-zone nurses put their skills on the front line
From the page: Severely injured with a tunneling wound through his liver, the Marine lay sedated, clinging to life, in the intensive care unit at the 399th Combat Support Hospital in Al Asad, Iraq, under the care of U....
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2 Reviews
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- javamanjoe rated 4 months ago
- ANGELS OF THE BATTLEFIELD. WAR ZONE NURSES PUT THEIR SKILLS ON THE FRONT LINE. Thanks 'aliasinkhorn'.
U.S. Air Force Reserve Capt. Susan E. Hodges, of Paxton, is shown relaxing against some sandbags during her recent tour of duty.
(Photo courtesy of SUSAN E. HODGES)
- aliasinkhorn rated 4 months ago
- Angels of the battlefield
War-zone nurses put their skills on the front line
From the page: Severely injured with a tunneling wound through his liver, the Marine lay sedated, clinging to life, in the intensive care unit at the 399th Combat Support Hospital in Al Asad, Iraq, under the care of U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Melinda A. Nekervis of Sterling.
He ended up getting well over 100 different blood products, said Lt. Nekervis, a soft-spoken Army ICU and flight nurse who returned in October from Mosul and Al Asad, Iraq. When everything but whole blood was exhausted, Lt. Nekervis asked if the Marines keeping vigil would donate their own.
They were more than willing to do that, she said. We transfused the buddies blood into the patient. It was quite a moving experience. We were very lucky not to lose him. He was pretty sick. They had to do surgery right at the bedside, and he survived.
Stabilized, the Marine was later sent to Germany aboard an Air Force medical evacuation flight.
I know that the doctors, from the extent of his injuries, didnt know if he would make it and what his deficits would be, said Lt. Nekervis, 32, who in civilian life is a registered nurse working in intensive care at UMass Memorial Medical Center University Campus.
I had him for four long days, she said. I will never forget him, but he will never remember me.
Military nurses in Iraq and Afghanistan are a critical link in a chain of medical care that has enabled more soldiers to survive injury than ever before in the nations history of warfare. In World War II, about 30 percent of soldiers died from wounds, a rate that fell to 24 percent in the Vietnam War. Since the start of combat seven years ago in Afghanistan, and since 2003 in Iraq, more than 32,000 service members have been wounded in action. Statistics recently released by the Department of Defense show that 4,579 have been killed in action or died under non-hostile conditions during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
But the survivability rate the portion of people dying from wounds on these fronts has fallen to about 10 percent.
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