Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Not all of our patients are human


I will not discuss any specifics concerning the soldiers we are taking care of at Sharana. I feel that to do so would trivialize the sacrifices they are making here. As you can imagine, their injuries can be, and often are catastrophic. IED (improvised explosive device) injuries, account for approximately 70% of the causalities we see here in Afghanistan, and they are horrific. Our first two cases were a soldier and his working dog that fell victims to an IED attack. I took care of the soldier and my CRNA colleague assisted the veterinarian with the resuscitation of the dog. These pictures help illustrate what we are up against with these IEDS. After the initial resuscitation and surgery, both patients were medevaced to Bagram for more definitive care. It was heart warming to see the amount of care and resources that were dedicated to saving this dogs life. I'm told that both the soldier and the dog are doing well.

Vet and Orthopedic surgeon

Note the extent of the IED injuries

The dog underwent an exploratory laparotomy and chest tube placement

Post-surgery and extubated!

Major Randall Moore, CRNA
1980th Forward Surgical Team
FOB Sharana, Afghanistan

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