FST ensures patients receive immediate medical care

GHAZNI PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

09.14.2011

Courtesy Story

Combined Joint Task Force 1 - Afghanistan

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Doctors often refer to the “golden hour,” a time period lasting from a few minutes to several hours following injury, during which there is the highest likelihood that medical treatment will prevent death.

In short, if injured soldiers reach medical care in the first hour, they are more likely to live.

From some parts of Ghazni province the flight to Bagram Air Field is longer than that critical hour; the flight to Forward Operating Base Ghazni’s forward surgical team is only minutes.

“The benefit of us being here is we are close to the battlefield,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Rewa Price, forward surgical team non-commissioned officer in charge of the advanced trauma and life support bay from Chambersburg, Pa. “Usually patients are medevaced to us within 30 minutes. We can get patients here quickly, stop their bleeding, and take measures to sustain the patient’s life for the 45 minute ride [to Bagram Air Field]. If BAF was the only option, many patients would bleed out before they got there.”

Ghazni’s forward surgical team, the only U.S. Air Force forward surgical team in Afghanistan, is only 88 miles from the farthest point of Ghazni. If an aircraft had to take off from Bagram, it is nearly a two-hour ride round trip, weather permitting.

“You can’t always get from here to there in a rapid fashion,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Beth Brenek, forward surgical team operating room nurse from Avondale, Pa. “We are all about the golden hour. We are the ones that stabilize the immediate injuries, the ones that will kill you. We’re here to stop bleeding, save limbs, and save lives.”

• Date Taken: 09.14.2011
• Date Posted: 09.14.2011 21:55
• Story ID: 77041
• Location: GHAZNI PROVINCE, AF