Afghanistan ER

“Another note from Mack, Jaded Julie. I am at a loss for words, so I’ll just read his:

‘Hi, everyone,

This weekend was quite eventful. I was in a double IED blast. We were in a compound and there were two houseborne IEDs that went off, first one about 15 feet away from me; then while we were taking care of the guy hurt worst in that one, a second bomb went off. I just got done being checked out in the Aid Station at Howz-E-Madad. Only a little sore, have a mandatory 24 hour rest period that we do for soldiers who have been in IED or bomb attacks as part of the mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury) policy for prevention of worsening, etc.

I had been on this patrol mission since Thursday. Last night a guy stepped on an IED, lost his leg but also had terrible pelvic injuries; we did all we could do for him, (treating him in a grape field). He had two surgeries today, I think, and is on a flight to Germany. I already had a pretty depleted Aid Bag today when the IEDs blew up; now it's completely trashed as are my clothes and everything. I still have someone's blood on me; it took forever to get everyone flown out and I finally got a helicopter ride back here about 10 PM or so. I am going to leave the bloody stuff in front of the house and go take a shower.

Take care and stay in touch----Mack’

After reading this, I sent him a note suggesting that this might be a good time to revisit the concept of a board-certified physician going on patrols.”

“You can already guess his reply, Curmudge. He will probably say that the horrible wounds suffered by the troops make it all the more essential that he be there. If it hadn’t been for Mack and his medics, the soldier who lost his leg would have died right there in the grape vineyard.”