Courtesy Photo | Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Long, utilitiesman, right, 30th Naval Construction...... read more read more
By Lt. Anthony O'Daniel
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 – Public Affairs
Ar Ramadi, Iraq – Two young Seabees recently put their construction skills to work in order to help mend a young Iraqi boy.
Steelworker Constructionman Jacob Bullock, from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Long, utilitiesman, from the 30th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR) (Forward), stationed in Ramadi, Iraq, took time out of their busy schedules to accommodate an unusual request from Lt. Cmdr. Jon Forsberg, an Orthopedic Surgeon attached to the Ramadi Surgical Team.
An Iraqi boy named Mohommad was injured while playing around an Iraqi civilian construction project. He had accidentally overturned a wheelbarrow full of dry cement bags and the 50 kilogram bags crushed the 5 year-old's large right leg bone, known as the femur. His father and older brother immediately recognized the seriousness of the break, and splinted it as best they could with two by fours and rope. Then they sought help from the American military, which is where Forsberg came in.
"The splint Mohommad's father and brother made for him was actually a good reduction," Forsberg stated (in medical jargon, to reduce means to re-align a broken bone in order to facilitate strong, straight healing). "However, given the seriousness of this type fracture, especially in a young child who has so much growth and development still to go, we wanted to provide the lightest, strongest cast possible." This involved placing a kind of body cast known as a Spica cast that is where the two motivated Seabees pitched in.
"Just as angles and alignment are crucial for builders framing a new building, we needed precision in this cast, from the top of Mohommad's pelvis down through his ankle," stated Lt, Anthony O'Daniel, medical officer for NMCB 1. In hospitals back home, a special Spica table is used to place the child in the right position for this cast. Having neither the proper equipment nor the time to order one from home, the surgical team contacted the Seabees for assistance.
"As soon as Forsberg described what he needed to help this young Iraqi boy, we agreed to help," states Long. With "Can Do" spirit, Long and Bullock took time out of their hectic day at the Ramadi construction materials yard to cut and weld the table for Mohammad.
"It turned out perfect. Being one-half inch steel plate, it weighed at least 50 pounds more than what we'd get back home, but otherwise was identical!" recalled Lt. James Driscoll, a Navy nurse who helped care for the child.
Bullock stated, "We got to watch the surgical team put Mohommad asleep and actually see our table being used. It took a bit of time because the cast was so big, but turned out great, according to the surgeon."
| Date Taken: | 01.25.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2008 11:47 |
| Story ID: | 15777 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 490 |
| Downloads: | 446 |
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