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TIKRIT, Iraq (Army News Service, May 17, 2006) – Iraqi Army Soldiers are now bringing their own medics to the battlefield. During Operation Iron Triangle, medics from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, were a prevalent force among detainees. “My duty is to help anyone who is sick or a casualty,” said 1st Sgt. Zaed Sudan, an Iraqi Army medic who helped check and treat detainees. “If there were casualties on any side we would work together to take care of them,” said Sudan. “We are ready at any time for what may happen.” Working with coalition...

5/8/2006 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- To say the staff at Balad’s Air Force Theater Hospital has seen everything may be an understatement. The doctors, nurses and medics here, some from McChord Air Force Base and Madigan Army Medical Center in the state of Washington, save the lives of servicemembers who are wounded while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. From injured Soldiers rushed in by helicopter to wounded insurgents, the patients they see run the gamut. The patients are Iraqi police, military, civilians and insurgents, in-country nationals, coalition civilians and military, American civilians and, of course, American servicemembers. “We...

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2006 – Coalition forces sent medical personnel to provide emergency treatment to the victims of a plane crash in Afghanistan's Helmand province today, and Marines in Kunar province are giving villagers free medical treatment, military officials reported. Three people are confirmed dead and several people were injured in the plane crash, including six people taken to Kandahar Airfield for treatment. Initial reports indicate the plane attempted to avoid a truck and overran the airport runway, crashing into a nearby village. "When we were alerted that an airplane had crashed, the coalition immediately sent medical support to assist...

DULUIYA, Iraq (Army News Service, March 28, 2006) – Soldiers of Task Force Band of Brothers conducted medical screenings of Iraqi citizens on the Jabouri Peninsula March 27. The screenings came nine days after forces netted thousands of pounds in artillery and mortar rounds, rockets, air-defense rockets, ammunition, machine guns, materials for improvised explosive devices and other terrorist weapons along the Tigris River. Medics from the 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division – along with civil affairs Soldiers – held the health assessment at a...

SAMARRA, Iraq (March 27, 2006) – The Army has a catchphrase; “Adapt, improvise and overcome,” and that is just what medics at Forward Operating Base Brassfield-Mora are doing. 2nd Lt. Edward C.F. Lau, Evacuation Platoon Leader, 690th Medical Company in support of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, FOB Brassfield-Mora in Samarra had an idea to implement the design for a new medical evacuation platform. “My chain of command gave the opportunity to implement a new ground evacuation doctrine, and depending on its success, it will be the new standard for ground patient movement in Iraq,” says...

3/9/2006 - SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Several times a week, medics from the 447th Expeditionary Medical Squadron take a break from their normal “hustle and bustle” work schedule at the clinic to help local Iraqis who feel under the weather. The medics head out close to the wire to see these patients at the Radhwaniya Medical Clinic Outreach Program building. Tech. Sgt. Michelle Du Lac picked up her stethoscope to listen to a young boy’s chest who hasn’t been feeling too well lately. “Can you tell him to breathe hard again for me?” she asked the interpreter. The...

3/6/2006 - Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras (AFPN) -- Airmen and Soldiers treated five Cuban citizens when their car crashed through the base’s perimeter fence March 1. The driver lost control of the car and ran off the road at approximately 6:15 a.m., rolling the vehicle several times and ultimately crashing through Soto Cano Air Base’s perimeter fence. The victims are among 300 Cuban medical personnel assigned in Honduras and were traveling to Comayagua from Tegucigalpa at the time of the crash. Base personnel responded quickly, as joint security forces secured the scene and medical element troops triaged the patients....

TIKRIT, Iraq, Feb. 21, 2006 — Much has been said about the importance of top-tier military medicine to the survival of soldiers in combat. Regardless of which country a soldier serves, quality medics are valued by the troops. Studies show that if critically wounded soldiers receive quality health care within the first hour after the incident, they will have the best probability of survival. “[The Iraqi medics are] always excited about learning, and they know a lot more than you think.” U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Stevens Medics from 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and 3rd...

2/9/2006 - U.S. MILITARY GROUP QUITO, Ecuador (AFPN) -- It was a busy day for the 21st Medical Group -- 1,501 patients seen in eight hours during a medical readiness exercise here. The constant stream of Ecuadorians moved through the treatment areas like a quiet, but strong steam engine. There was a sense of calm and orderliness as the Ecuadorian Army security team kept the crowds in control, which helped facilitate the number of people seen Feb. 7 in the small village of Otavalo. U.S. and Ecuadorian Air Force doctors worked side-by-side to treat Ecuadorian patients. In four isolated towns,...

Soldiers training Iraqi medics in Combat Lifesaving By Staff Sgt. Jesse C. Riggin A Soldier from Company D, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, practices IV therapy on his comrade as a medic from 2nd Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment guides him through the process. Photo contributed by 2-9 Medical Operations team. Printer-friendly version AD DAWR, Iraq (Army News Service, Feb. 7, 2006) – Eight Iraqi soldiers were recently awarded Combat Life Saver certificates after receiving training in basic medical diagnostic and treatment procedures from 2-9 Cavalry troopers. “Anything that we can do – combined operations, training them, supplying them,...

WASHINGTON — Marine medics in Iraq are more likely to face serious injury or death than are the riflemen they’re working to help, according to the assistant commandant. Gen. Robert Magnus said Tuesday that statistics from Corps health officials show that the job of the combat medic, or Navy corpsman, is among the most dangerous in the war, in large part because of the situations they put themselves in. “They’re literally moving in and moving out of the fight to get to their patients,” he said. “They’re among the first to go into battle, and they’re right in the middle...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan, Jan. 16, 2006 – Eleven people wounded during a Jan. 14 bombing attacks in Khowst, Afghanistan, were treated by U.S. medical personnel at Forward Operating Base Salerno, military officials in the Afghan capital of Kabul reported today. Two of the 11 have since been released from care, officials said; the rest were reported to be in stable condition. "The local medical facilities in Khowst were overwhelmed by the number of patients, and we were able to step in and assist with their care and treatment," said Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara, Combined Joint Task Force 76 spokesman. "There were...

12/28/2005 - PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Ore. (AFPN) -- More than 50 years after it entered the Air Force, aircrews are still finding ways to increase the capabilities of the KC-135 Stratotanker. Ten reservists from the 939th Air Refueling Wing here and four the 349th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., demonstrated the airplane has valuable medical-evacuation capabilities. The team practiced transporting patients with battlefield injuries during a three-day mission to Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay. The base is home to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force. The medevac mission is just a few years old for the...

12/27/2005 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- In a sea of tents and trailers on Balad Air Base in northern Iraq, shrapnel is being surgically removed from a limb, medics are racing to stop someone from bleeding to death and another life is being saved from wounds inflicted on the battlefield. It is that sea of tents which houses the Air Force theater hospital, where servicemembers and civilians get the most advanced medical care possible in a combat zone. Run by the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group, the hospital offers trauma and specialized medical care for people throughout Iraq and...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 23, 2005) -- Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, conducted a medical capabilities assessment and clinic in Baghdad Nov. 18. Medics set up the clinic in a local school, saw more than 100 residents, and dispensed medical advice and basic treatments. “It’s basically a sick call for the people of Baghdad that we’re running here,” said Capt. Scott Baumgartner, 1st Bn., 9th FA physician’s assistant. “We saw an opportunity to do something good for the Iraqi people and followed up on it.” School workers cleaned out two classrooms and medics set up a triage...

U.S. Army Spc. Evan Perkins (right), 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, medic, takes a Baghdad resident's vital signs while U.S. Army Spc. David Tan records the results at a Baghdad school during a medical capabilities assessment and clinic operation Nov. 18, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ben Brody More Photos U.S. Army Medics Hold Clinic for Iraqis Medics set up a clinic in a local school, saw more than 100 residents, and dispensed medical advice and basic treatments. By Spc. Ben Brody2nd Brigade Combat Team BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 22, 2005 — Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery,...

MOSUL, Iraq — The Soldier medics of Company A, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, play a dual role in the Army. They are on the front lines of the war on terror, stacking up on houses with Infantry Soldiers, providing overwatch in the air-guard hatches of Strykers, living with the line platoons, and performing numerous Soldier tasks required by their chosen profession. Over the past months, Sgt. Eric Syfrett, Spc. Derek Bartholomew, Spc. Micheal Bosch, Spc. James Johns, Spc. John Teale, Spc. William Trevathan and Pfc. Jesse Garcia have treated casualties under enemy fire, treated gunshot wounds, performed preventative medicine...

ELLINGTON FIELD, Texas -- The Texas Air National Guard stood up Task Force Compassion here to provide Hurricane Rita evacuees medical support and to evacuate non-critical patients from overburdened local hospitals. Task force Airmen and Soldiers began setting up a 10-bed medical treatment facility overnight in Ellington’s abandoned base exchange and opened for business Sept. 26. The treatment facility has 47 medics from the 147th Medical Group here, the 149th MG at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, the 136th MG at Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth and the Army National Guard Support Medical Battalion in San Antonio. “If...

Hawra suffered severe burns when she was caught in a cross-fire between terrorists and coalition forces. As she recuperates, her spirit motivates injured troops at the aid station. BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 14, 2005 — By the time she was 15 years old, Hawra had already suffered a lifetime of pain. Her father was killed by the old regime; then, one year ago, her sister was killed when she and Hawra were caught in a cross-fire between terrorists and Coalition Forces. Hawra was trapped in the burning car, leaving her with severe burns on both her legs. She was taken to...

GULFPORT, Miss. (Army News Service, Sept. 5, 2005) – Forty-two aircraft, making six or more trips a day, are flying out of the Gulfport/Beloxi Air Guard base. They bring food, water, ice and medical supplies to those affected by the hurricane. They take needed prescriptions, fill them, and fly back into the neighborhoods with a white paper bag. Each flight has a medic on board. Spc. Terrance Jones 20, is a full-time college student and Soldier in the Mississippi National Guard activated in response to Hurricane Katrina. He thought his day was over, and then he got assigned to one...

The U.S. Public Health Service said a prison morgue near New Orleans was expecting 1,000 to 2,000 bodies. And more than 125 were known dead in Mississippi. [snip] And the secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff, warned that there will be gruesome sights in the days ahead. "We need to prepare the country for what's coming," Chertoff told Fox News . "We are going to uncover people who died hiding in the houses, maybe got caught in the floods. It is going to be as ugly a scene as you can imagine." Meanwhile, help for the living was an uphill...

Task Force Peacekeeper, with the aid of Afghan Police, disseminate election information and provide medical aid to the village of Sabikhel, Afghanistan. By Combined Forces Command, Afghanistan BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 24, 2005 — U.S. soldiers of Task Force Peacekeeper alongside Afghan police conducted a medical assistance and election information dissemination mission in the village of Sabikhel, Afghanistan Aug. 22. "One of the keys to success with this mission were the Afghan police who were instrumental in helping guide and direct the patients to where they were supposed to go, as well as maintain order in the crowd." Lt. Col....

8/18/2005 - OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (AFPN) -- When providing medical care at a remote location, the pace of business and the variety of medical conditions can change quickly. For medical Airmen with the 40th Air Expeditionary Group at this forward-deployed location, it has been a combination of business as usual and urgent issues requiring 12 medical evacuations. “It seems surprising to have that many medevacs since we have a bunch of young, healthy people,” said Capt. (Dr.) Kevin Turneau, a flight doctor. The unrelated cases included appendicitis, heart attacks, a seriously gashed finger and a collapsed lung. Because the medical...

In Baghdad, Iraqi civilians took unusual action to protect coalition forces after a car-bomb attack Aug. 6. After U.S. medics treated the wounded at the scene in the Sumer al Ghadier District, local residents constructed a hasty barricade with trees, bricks and anything else available to protect the soldiers from additional danger. "This is the first time that I can remember where Iraqi civilians actually built a barrier to protect my soldiers," U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steven Merkel, commander of 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, said. "The soldiers are still talking about...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2005 – Better training, more advanced equipment and aeromedical evacuation procedures that are constantly being improved are helping save thousands of lives of troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, Air Force medical officers told the American Forces Press Service during a Pentagon interview. Air Force Lt. Col. Warren Dorlac, chief of critical care and trauma surgery at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, described the extensive network of patient care that's helping reduce battlefield deaths and speed up patients' recovery. Casualties are getting medical treatment faster and closer to the point of injury than ever before, Dorlac...

Before the dust cleared from the air, the combat medics were helping an injured Baghdad woman. BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 10, 2005 — U.S. Army medics provided immediate aid to a Baghdad resident who was injured by a suicide car bomb Aug. 6. In the terrorist attack, a van swerved from an eastbound highway in the direction of a U.S. military convoy parked on a parallel residential street, detonating just short of the lead vehicle. The explosion sent fire and debris in every direction, blowing out windows and setting nearby palm trees on fire. "We had heard that there were additional...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2005 – A recent attack on a medical assistance team in Afghanistan highlights the enemy's desperation, officials in the country said. A joint Afghan-U.S. medical assistance team came under attack from a small group of enemy forces in the eastern province of Kunar. Soldiers drove the enemy away and continue to search the region. "It's incredible to us that the enemy would attack our forces while we are providing innocent Afghans with health care," said Army Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force 76. "These attacks will not deter us; we will continue...

7/5/2005 - KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Medics here recently saved the life of a local 3-month-old infant suffering from severe infection. The child’s father brought him to a forward-operating base where officials arranged for the baby to be brought here for care. Though the 506th Expeditionary Medical Squadron’s Airmen do not routinely care for civilians, much less infants, an exception was made because of the immediacy of care needed in this case. “The Army physician at the (forward-operating base) immediately recognized that the infant was within 24 hours of dying from infection and bleeding,” said Col. (Dr.) Brian...

TAJI, Iraq, May 18, 2005 — Hundreds of excited children gathered near a clinic as U.S. soldiers passed out school supplies, book bags and toys during a humanitarian mission to the Husseiniya section of northwest Baghdad near Camp Taji on May 7. Inside the clinic, another group of troops unloaded boxes of medical supplies as Army medical professionals consulted with their Iraqi counterparts. Soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, serving as part of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division; 3rd Infantry Division and supporting units conducted the mission, a large part of which included delivering medicine, vaccines,...

Baghdad, Iraq -- Medics of Task Force 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, were awarded the esteemed Combat Medic Badge during a ceremony on Forward Operating Base Independence in Baghdad on Jan. 17. Twenty of the task force’s medics received the badge, which can only be earned by a medic engaged in ground combat operations as a medical specialist, generally with an infantry unit. “Having a good medic out there gives you confidence, knowing that you’re going to be taken care of by someone you can trust when you put yourself in between that shrapnel and everybody else,” said Lt. Col....

GAZA (Reuters) - An explosion tore through the home of a senior Hamas militant in Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least four people and wounding him and about a dozen other Palestinians, medics said. The cause of the explosion in the home of Ahmed al-Jabari, a senior commander in the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigade, Hamas's armed wing, was not immediately known. The Israeli army, which has killed dozens of members of Hamas and other militant groups in so-called targeted attacks since the start of a Palestinian uprising nearly four years ago, had no immediate comment. Medics said four people were...

1st Armored Division Medics Train ICDC Counterpartsby Staff Sgt. Mark Bell, 372nd MPAD BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Iraqi Civil Defense Corps took another step toward self-sufficiency when 66 guardsmen recently completed the first combat medic course offered in Iraq. Medics from the 1st Armored Division Artillery Combat Team’s ICDC unit in the Al Rashid district of southern Baghdad now have trained medical specialists. The class covered many of the same tasks found in the U.S. Army’s Combat Lifesaver’s Course. After graduating, 50 of the medics will serve in the individual platoons of the 304th ICDC Battalion, said 1st Lt....

  Afghan National Army training combat medics By Maj. Richard C. Sater Afghan National Army Private Mirwais inserts a saline infusion IV during a training session at the Kabul military forces hospital.Maj. Richard Sater POL-E-CHARKI, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Jan. 26, 2004) -- The Afghan National Army has begun training its own combat medics to provide baseline care for soldiers in the field through a collaborative effort with the U.S. Army. About 80 medics have graduated so far, and the second class is due to complete the course this month. A third group will begin training in the spring,...

Medics wonder why bird flu hits children most January 20 2004 at 10:39AM By Christina Toh-Pantin Hanoi - Four of the five people killed in Vietnam by an outbreak of bird flu were children, and the other the mother of one of the young victims, but experts don't know why the young seem to be more at risk. At Hanoi's paediatric hospital, the front line in the country's battle against avian flu, doctors wearing goggles and gowns monitor nine children, all suffering from a respiratory illnesses that doctors fear could be bird flu. The World Health Organisation says there has...

CJTF-7 Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq Release #031227e  Colorado National Guard develops military medical emergency response program    BAGHDAD, Iraq – A bomb explodes in Baghdad. People are injured and need medical treatment quickly. But a security team is needed for the military medical emergency response team to travel outside the “Green Zone” in the city. How long can the injured wait while the two teams – security and medical – scramble together? A group of medics from the Colorado National Guard are developing a pilot program in coordinated military medical emergency response. The Rapid Advance Medical Team, or RAM-T, concept was...

The Pentagon will draft experienced medical personnel, including medics, nurses and physicians, in the event of a national emergency, according to a report published by the Newhouse News Service. Navy corpsmen carry "wounded" troops during an exercise at Camp Pendleton, Calif. (WND Photo/Jon Dougherty) The "health care personnel delivery system" is being readied by the Department of Defense to cope with military casualties from a large-scale biological or chemical attack. The plan was authorized by Congress in 1987 to deal with large-scale casualties that outstripped the active-duty military's ability to handle them. Also, the news service reported, the Pentagon is...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is firming up a plan to draft thousands of doctors, nurses and other health-care specialists in the event of a worst-case crisis. The Selective Service System is dusting off its plan for a "health care personnel delivery system," which has been on the shelf since Congress authorized it in 1987 to cope with military casualties from a large-scale biological or chemical attack. At the Pentagon's direction, the agency also is examining whether that plan for a "special skills" draft could be adapted to address critical shortages that might arise for military linguists, computer experts or engineers....

Special Forces Prayer Almighty GOD, who art the Author of liberty and the Champion of the oppressed, hear our prayer. We, the men of Special Forces, acknowledge our dependence upon Thee in the preservation of human freedom. Go with us as we seek to defend the defenseless and to free the enslaved. May we ever remember that our nation, whose motto is “In God We Trust,” expects that we shall acquit ourselves with honor, that we may never bring shame upon out faith, our families, or our fellow men. Grant us wisdom from Thy mind, courage from Thine heart,...

Armed forces call up medics as Britain goes on a war footing Reservists told to be ready within two months as battle over wording of resolution goes on at UN Kamal Ahmed, political editor Sunday October 27, 2002 The Observer The Ministry of Defence is to call up hundreds of armed forces' medical staff in the first significant sign that Britain is putting itself on a final war footing for conflict with Iraq. The MoD will lay an order in the House of Commons in the next fortnight which will say that air evacuation staff, field hospital unit staff, individual...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — The shooting began within minutes, and soon mortar shells were falling on the men of Charlie Company as they scrambled out of helicopters on the Shah-e-Kot valley floor and into the fiercest firefight of the Afghan war. "I’ve got shrapnel!" a soldier screamed, and Army medic Spc. Eddie Rivera began working on his first casualty. Rivera and two other medics then scurried around the battle zone for 18 hours on the first day of Operation Anaconda, treating the bloodied soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division while shells and bullets landed just feet from their positions. Charlie Company...