Photo By Staff Sgt. David Lankford | Sgt. Frank Richards, Emergency Medical Response Team, 206th Area Support Medical...... read more read more
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by Sgt. Dave Lankford
316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Public Affairs Office
LOGISTIC SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, Iraq ― For the Soldiers of the Emergency Medical Response Team (EMRT), 206th Area Support Medical Company, days off are more a good idea than a reality. Even when they are not on duty as the primary response team they are on standby, ready to treat everything from sprained ankles to traumatic battlefield injuries sustained on East Logistic Support Area Anaconda and in the surrounding Iraqi communities.
Sgt. Frank Richards, a squad leader on the EMRT, said he came to Iraq with the perfunctory belief he had seen a lot during his years in the medical field. His perception was rapidly changed, not only by the brutality of the injuries he saw but also by the frequency in which they occurred.
"Back home you don't have to worry about IEDs (improvised explosive devices) going off. Especially where we're from; you don't get a lot of gunshot wounds. Here it's pretty much a daily occurrence," said the Jefferson City, Mo. native.
Nearly 70 percent of the calls the EMRT responds to are multiple-system traumas and burns caused by gunshots or IEDs. Some of the injured are U.S. service members but most are Iraqis. The mission, however, is clear; no matter whom the victim or what the injury they must keep the casualty alive, and this team is among the best. They have an overwhelming record of success; after eight years in the medical field Richards has never lost a patient.
First responders in Iraq can treat as many trauma patients in a month as most state-side emergency medical technicians treat in a year, said Richards. "You find yourself surprised at how easily things flow. It's become second nature to us."
As a first response team it is not only important to be good at what you do, you must also be fast, and Richards' team is very fast.
"I can be anywhere on post within three minutes," said Richards. "We treat every call as if it's an emergency simply because when a call comes in from 911 they may say 'hurt ankle', but it may be hurt because of a gunshot wound or an open fracture."
Sgt. 1st Class David Armstrong, EMRT platoon sergeant, couldn't ask for a better team, he said. Others sometimes refer to his platoon as "Dave's boys." He takes the ribbing well and even allows himself to feel a bit of pride for the tight-knit team he's built.
Armstrong, with the help of his squad leaders and the rest of the platoon, has reworked every aspect of the EMRT mission. They have meticulously gone over their equipment, implemented improved load plans, rehearsed procedures and built their team. They left no stone unturned. Unfortunately, sometimes even the perfect plan is no match for the realities of war.
On a dreary day several months ago, Richards' team received the call every medic dreads. The patient was a six-year-old gunshot victim who had been left for dead. Though the little girl barely showed signs of life, Richards and his team refused to give up. Every effort was made on the way to the hospital to preserve the child's life, but to no avail. She was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the emergency room. The entire team was grief stricken but the loss hit Richards hardest. His friends remained by his side throughout the night.
In many professions tragedy often follows triumph, and vice versa. In the medical field these extremes can be much more pronounced.
Recently, Richards arrived on scene to find an Iraqi man with multiple gunshot wounds screaming in pain and obvious terror. Richards expected the worst when the screaming suddenly stopped. His training had taught him silence is never a good sign. As he approached the injured man he was surprised to see a look of solace on his face. The only word Richards could make out was "bear", an obvious reference to his Missouri National Guard patch.
Confused, he asked an interpreter what the injured man was trying to say. Pointing at the patch on Richards' arm the interpreter said, "In this man's village they say when the bear comes everything will be all right."
"It's been a good tour," Armstrong said. "There're a lot of good memories and a lot of bad ones. Some things I'd like to leave here and some I'd like to take with, but if I had to come back with the same crew I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
| Date Taken: | 08.21.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 09.04.2007 12:39 |
| Story ID: | 12152 |
| Location: | BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 470 |
| Downloads: | 423 |
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