Posted on 10/13/2005 4:56:30 PM PDT by SandRat
CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Oct. 13, 2005) -- Nestled amongst the abundance of tents here is a place where nothing short of miracles are performed at the hands of skillful individuals. This rag tag platoon is an assortment of doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman from all over the country.
The members of the Surgical/Shock Trauma Platoon, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Force Service Support Group (Forward), are an elite group of Marines and sailors designed to take the most serious of emergency medical patients from all over the area of operation.
The platoon’s battle is not on the kinetic battle field, however, it fights to save lives, which is supported by the motto, “Pro Vita Batuimus,” which in Latin translates to “For life, we fight.”
“We deal with urgent surgical and trauma patients that consist of a lot of blast injuries and abdominal wounds,” said Chief Petty Officer Larrie M. Rook, an independent duty corpsman with SSTP, “After stabilizing them, we move them to a higher echelon of care.”
The SSTP is made up of 72 Marines and sailors, and is broken down into security and transport personnel, family practitioners to doctors with assorted surgical backgrounds, nurses, anesthesia teams, multiple technical specialties, and individual duty hospital corpsmen all from up and down the east coast, Rook, a Buffalo, N.Y., native said.
The platoons varying work environments in the past have never been like they are here, according to many of the individuals who work at SSTP.
Rook explained that her many years of experience as a hospital corpsman have never brought her to such a high-paced trauma environment.
“It’s different than any other medicine of this type in the Navy,” Rook explained.
Personnel in the platoon find this environment quite enjoyable and satisfying. This is what many of them have been training for as long as they have been in the Navy, said Navy Lt. Ron W. Cleveland, an emergency room trauma nurse with STP.
“I find it very rewarding,” Cleveland explained. “I’ve been a commissioned nurse corps officer for six years and have been here for six weeks and I feel this platoon is the highlight of my career.”
Though the work is rewarding, it's the teamwork that gets the platoon through every day. The platoon is made up of medical personnel from all experiences and educational backgrounds, said Lt. Victor M. Diaz, a nurse anesthetist for SSTP.
“We all have a specialty and come together as a team,” the Bradenton, Fla., native explained. “It’s that team concept that you can really see here at SSTP that you don’t see as defined in other arenas.”
One thing the SSTP does not do is turn away anyone who needs immediate medical attention.
The SSTP treats everyone from American active duty forces, civilians and Iraqi Security Forces to wounded insurgent forces, explained Rook.
“We don’t turn anyone away if it’s a true life or limb trauma,” Diaz said. “Just yesterday, we took two pediatric civilians, one that probably would have died if untreated.”
All the patients arrive in various ways, but many arrive by casualty evacuation via helicopter from the battlefield. After being stabilized the patients are moved to a better equipped, long-term care facility within the area of operation, Rook explained.
Part of the uniqueness of SSTP is that even though sailors and Marines have their own respective specialties, they can always fall back on their basic medical skills and instincts.
“Regardless of whether you’re a surgeon or a corpsman, you never know when you have to draw blood or be a litter bearer; you have to be very flexible,” Diaz said.
Some junior enlisted corpsman finds their experiences at SSTP a true first hand learning experience.
Many of these experiences are cases that less experienced corpsmen have never seen first hand until arriving here in Iraq, said Seaman Timothy M. Vannes, a triage corpsman with SSTP, and Portsmouth, Va., native.
“Many of the cases I have never seen first hand and only read about or practiced,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Kayla M. Long, a triage corpsman for SSTP. “It’s great to experience a lot of new and different things here.”
This team of miracle workers will continue to fight and save the lives of our service members while deployed in Iraq, so service members can continue their fight on the enduring war on terrorism.
MARINE PING
My brother was a Navy corpsman during the latter days of Vietnam. He worked in the naval hospital in Queens. The patients were flown in "very" express, overriding any other traffic arriving at the airport. He has always said that it was the most rewarding job he has ever had.
I wonder how many procedures learned on the battlefield get carried into the stateside emergency rooms.
You have to believe these folks find some creative ways of treating patients.
nice post. as an ER medic in the AF I love these stories, but I find the writers words -"Rag tag bunch" to be a little odd when describing a dedicated group of medical professionals.
Saving lives...That's got to be about as good as it gets!
BTTT
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