Photo By Douglas Stutz | Then-Naval Hospital Bremerton commanding officer Capt. Chris Quarles, center, looks...... read more read more
If there’s been one constant throughout this past decade – and century up to this point - its Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) staff members deployed to Afghanistan.
Whether at dangerous forward operation bases in outlying districts, the busy trauma center at NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit or hectic Bagram Air Field, Navy Medicine personnel have been - and still are – down range.
Hundreds of NHB doctors, nurses, hospital corpsmen, and support staff have answered the call supporting Navy and Marine units as individual augmentees (IA), or attached to a joint command at a number of locales across the war torn country to provide medical care to those in need.
The following chronological accounts represent a fraction of those who have gone in harm’s way for Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Resolute Support, and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. These individual accounts all share one overlapping theme; that of putting service before self in a dangerous land.
Chief Hospital Corpsman Connie Smith was still planning holiday decorations and helping with a holiday meal back in 2009 even though she was over 6,725 miles from home.
Smith, from Kimberly, Idaho, deployed from NHB to Bagram Air Field. She was attached to the 30th Medical Command Task Force, Cooperative Medical Assistance (CMA), a combined Soldier, Sailor and Airmen joint command that focused on health service support, force health protection planning, medical logistics, patient movement, and health care policy.
Smith was operations chief/noncommissioned (noncom) officer in charge of the CMA for the Strong Food Project to help combat endemic malnutrition in local children under the age of five.
“The project helps kids from six to 60 months regain a normal appetite,” explained Smith.
According to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan, the project began in November 2008 in the southern Afghan province of Zabul. Strong Food is composed of five simple ingredients which can be purchased by locals and then combined with liquid vitamins. The resulting mixture is a daily, high-fat, sweet-tasting blend for children with severe malnutrition.
“I came hoping to make a difference in the lives of the Afghan people,” said Smith, who had served in the Navy for 21 years at that time. “The programs we provide are helping them to self-sustain.”
According to compiled statistics at the time, the Infant Mortality Rate in Afghanistan in 2009 was 151.95 per 1,000, behind only the West African nations of Angola and Sierra Leone.
“The Infant Mortality Rate is a very important measuring tool,” stated Capt. Fred Landro, NHB Branch Clinic Director and department head of Occupational Medicine. “It really is the barometer of the level of health of the country.”
There was also a high risk for major infectious diseases amongst the local population, with food and waterborne diseases such as bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever, and vector-borne diseases such as malaria, and rabies.
There was no shortage of work for Smith and her team. She was also found that her gender augmented her corpsman knowledge in gaining access to locals that social and cultural norms would not allow for male medical personnel. Females made up over 48 percent of the population in Afghanistan.
As a high ranking female noncom, Smith was able to see Afghani women and children needing medical support and health care.
“Most of the people were happy to see us,” noted Smith. “While doing a mission in one area, I treated a local Afghan girl who was very strong willed and determined. When I noticed that in her, I knew the mindset is out there that the women can do what needs to be done. While in another area I was the only female provider, so I was working with a local Afghan male doctor, who of course had a great deal of more medical knowledge than I, but the local women would ask to see me.”
As one of the few females with medical knowledge around, Smith participated in numerous humanitarian assistance projects, as well as women/child clinics, once seeing approximately 600 local Afghans in a three-day period at one arranged clinic.
Despite being away from her own children, Smith was very active with Afghani children in her duties.
“I think helping the children has been the most heart touching fact. I hope that what we are doing will make a better life for them.” Smith said.
For Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Brian Lawrence Sandau, his time down range was in volatile Helmand Province in the southern part of the country, 2009-2010.
NHB’s Ophthalmology Department surgical technician was an IA with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, conducting a critical and precarious offensive in the Helmand River Valley
“It definitely felt like at times being in the middle of hell,” said Sandau, a Tripp, S.D. native, working out of Patrol Base Jaker, located on a wide stretch of the Helmand River valley.
Sandau was part of the Marine Corps initial push into the Taliban heartland. After a Marine Corps force of approximately 200 went in to augment and relieve a British force, Sandau came in with a larger force of 500 a several days later.
“We flooded the area overnight,” related Sandau. “The Taliban woke up and found they had a Marine battalion in their back yard.”
There is an important market town near by the patrol base. The presence of the British and American troops, along with Afghan Army and National Police forces, systematically turned what was a frightened district back towards a calm normalcy.
“We made that area a much more stable and secure place,” Sandau commented. “Residents gradually began to move back. There were merchants in the market place where once there were none. The bazaar opened for business. People were shopping. Even the school reopened.”
“They felt safer because we were there,” continued Sandau. “The local Afghans told us that they wanted security, but many had to be cautious not to be seen with us. Still, one highlight I will remember is when one of the locals came to point out where he had noticed Taliban digging to rig an IED. It took a lot for him to do that. That was a huge risk on his part.”
Sandau attests that the reason why the local shared his knowledge is due to the element of trust that had been established. For his part, being a Navy corpsman proved valuable not only for the Marines he cared for, but also for the local population. After beginning the offensive with the command element, Sandau went to a weapons platoon. He was on patrol every day, carrying 75-plus pounds of gear in summer heat that reached triple digits daily. He interacted and treated locals.
“It was not the most forgiving environment and our patrols weren’t high tech. They were down-and-dirty, ‘Boots on the ground.’ There were times when it was really difficult for us to tell who was who. Sometimes the scene did it for us. After one firefight with a lot of small arms fire coming at us, three insurgents scattered on motorbikes. Another stayed back to see how we responded. They were just feeling us out,” recalled Sandau.
Once the local found out he was a ‘doc,’ any reluctance on their part vanished if medical care was needed.
“They weren’t as worried seeing us or being seen by others seeing us. It was a waterfall effect. The word got around,” said Sandau.
His medical kit bag could only carry so much. He provided treatment for a variety of ailments. Additional treatment for many at the patrol base was considered out of the question by locals who continually feared repercussions.
“They would take what we could give them at the time.”
Danger became as common as the swirling dust and suffocating heat.
There were constant threats of booby-traps and IEDs on patrol. Mortar rounds, rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and small arms fire continually thudded into the patrol base.
“It took a while but I finally got used to it. As we all did,” said Sandau, explaining on how he and others handled the shooting.
The patrol base was as austere as they come. Sandau spent three months in the close-confined area, with approximately 30 Marines, one other corpsman and a host of Afghan forces. In such a harsh environment, it was almost a culture shock to have almost none of the normal comforts associated with the 21st century. Being able to contact home was a limited luxury. Email connectivity was not available. Sports drink mix added to warm drinking water was a luxury.
“Everyone was in the same situation, even the colonel in charge,” said Sandau. “We all adapted and we all got through it.”
At Kandahar Air Field Role 3 Multi-National Medical Unit in nearby Kandahar province, NHB Sailors were setting a back-to-back-to-back precedence.
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Bryce Moheit was recognized for his performance as a surgical technician in the Role 3 Trauma Hospital’s Operating Room (OR) with the Junior Service Member of the Month award for April. Moheit followed Hospitalman Andrew Brown, of NHB’s Labor and Delivery department, who was named the initial recipient in February for his work in the Intermediate Care Ward. The March awardee was HM3 Levi Arcaira from NHB’s Internal Medicine department for his contributions in the Urgent Care Unit.
Moheit noted everyone was striving to improve upon their 97 percent casualty survival rate.
“What we do in the Operating Room is vital in saving lives and helping make a difference in this region of the country,” said Moheit.
Moheit’s role as a surgical tech had him readying all instruments and equipment for any OR case, many times with little or no notice beforehand. Day or night, he assisted the surgeons by providing whatever aid was needed be it for neurological surgery, interventional radiology, orthopedic or vascular needs, and more. After one case is over, he helps handle the sanitizing and cleaning up, as well as the restocking of supplies for the next trauma case.
“Preparing for a case while the casualty is being quickly evaluated in the trauma bay is very important,” said Moheit.
More often than not, there was always a following trauma case. Fighting persists against the Taliban not just in the Kandahar region. Casualties arrive from near and far battlefields. Local Afghans also seek treatment for a host of ailments.
“Most of the time we had six to nine cases on the board for the morning shift. We take care of a lot of local nationals as well as coalition forces, everything from triple amputation to a multiple person motor vehicle accident,” said Moheit, adding that a normal work day easily stretches well beyond 12-hours, before starting all over again.
Moheit cited that NHB helped develop his fundamental knowledge and skills to handle the work load and stress level in a war zone.
“I came with experience and got a lot more being here. I have also had a life lesson in compassion and pain. There are those who come in and don’t make it. When I leave the OR, I have seen grieving people from their unit or family. All I can do is offer water and kind words to help lessen their hurt. As with them, I will never be the same,” Moheit said.
NHB staff members also assisted from afar, with MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) technologists delivering advanced technology to Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province.
“The NHB Radiology team was instrumental in assisting getting our MRI machine ready for patient care. We could not have gotten to this point as quickly as we did without their assistance. When they were asked, they didn’t hesitate to step up and lend a hand,” said Cmdr. Peter Lundblad, officer in charge of the Concussion Restoration Care Center on Camp Leatherneck, part of Joint Operating Base and British-run Camp Bastion.
Complex examinations protocols and related detailed instructions were needed. NHB provided for the MRI, an advanced imaging machine used to scan for such wounds as concussions and brain injuries, as well as tissue, organ, bone and ligament damage.
“This center is designed to care for concussions, currently the number one most common combat related injury and non-surgical orthopedic patients, the top non-combat related injury,” said Lundblad, NHB Family and Sports Medicine physician, and Monticello, Minn. native.
Lundblad contacted his home command of NHB in October, 2011, for assistance soon after the MRI machine arrived.
“The MRI protocols, safety documents, standard operation procedures (SOP) and screening forms are absolutely essential to the establishment of a safe and effective MRI program. An MRI scanner without examination protocols is like a computer without an operating system - it just does not work. The better your examination protocols are, the better are the images that are produced by the MRI scanner. The radiologist needs high quality images free of artifacts to make an accurate diagnosis. An accurate diagnosis is essential to provide definitive treatment to the patient. It is all intricately related. Camp Leatherneck contacted us for assistance and Mr. Matthew Hodgson and Ms. Johana Fanara, both stellar MRI technologists, answered the call with the finest support that the industry has to offer,” said Lt. Cmdr. Mark M. Morton, NHB Radiology Department Head.
“I was able to successfully send our exam cards (protocols) over to the technologists for use on their system in Afghanistan. They can download them and run them without having to go through the trouble of building a database from scratch,” said Matthew Hodgson, Naval Hospital Bremerton Radiology MRI technician.
Having the MRI system in camp allowed Lundblad and his team to immediately evaluate and treat mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI/Concussion) patients. In the past, the closest MRI unit was days away at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany.
As was the case in Iraq, head and limb injuries became the most common types of wounds amongst U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan. The MRI was also used for more complicated patient clinical presentations and symptoms, and those having a slowed recovery from their injuries.
On Dec. 16, 2012, the harsh, unforgiving landscape of Helmand province came crashing into Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Edwardbrice Sablan.
Riding in a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle as part of an escort patrol in the war-torn Marjah region, his immediate world and that of the Marines with him, was suddenly transformed.
A sudden blast tore into the undercarriage, sending an estimated 200-pound home-made IED into members of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.
Sablan, sitting directly behind the auxiliary driver, was knocked momentarily unconscious by the force of the explosion. When he came to amidst the aftermath of swirling smoke, choking dust, and minimal visibility, his thoughts immediately went to the others.
“My concern was for my Marines. I was worried about everyone else. We all got knocked out, including the driver, gunner, and other passengers. I instantly started assessing the others,” said Sablan.
Everyone had cuts, minor lacerations, and bruises from debris and shrapnel, except the auxiliary driver. The explosion had severely injured his lower torso.
“I had to get him out right away. I pulled him out and stabilized his wounds as much as possible. We had set up a defensive posture, - there were potshots coming at us - I protected and cared for him until the helo landed and transported him on to Camp Leatherneck,” related Sablan.
Upon returning from that seven-month deployment, Sablan discovered he would be a recipient of the Purple Heart for wounds sustained during ‘combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.’
“I felt very undeserving compared to what others have gone through and then been presented the Purple Heart,” Sablan said, adding that it wasn’t until a senior hospital corpsman shared with him the real significance of being presented the Purple Heart.
“He said that that ‘you’re not wearing it for yourself. You’re wearing it for all those who never made it back.’ To have it explained like that meant a lot,” stated Sablan.
The Tarin Kowt district of Afghanistan is mired in poverty, wracked by warfare, and beset by a host of concerns such as lack of available medical care.
Lt. Cmdr. Leah Brown helped to alleviate some of that medical care shortage by providing direct patient-centered care to the local population during her time deployed with Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan.
She was assigned to a Role 2 hospital in Tarin Kowt Forward Operating Base, located in southeast Uruzgan province from Oct. 2012 to May 2013.
“I was part of a medical team utilized by special operations. We took on a humanitarian assistance role to visit the local hospital which served the entire province. They had a very large catchment area. It is also one of the poorest regions as well as a very traditional area that really needed dedicated medical support,” said Brown, an Atlanta, Ga. native.
As part of the Role 2 hospital’s medical team, Brown and others were invited by the local hospital equivalent of chief medical director to help them care and offer services to the surrounding population. Brown conducted orthopedic surgeries that the local doctors couldn’t handle as well as orthopedic care to many local children and men. She made such a positive impact, she even started treating women.
“Being able to treat Afghan women was a very big deal due to their rigid beliefs rooted in old ways. It was a huge turnaround and a big accomplishment,” Brown said, adding that as part of an all-female team, they really made a strong positive impression in providing health and wellness care.
As a result of their efforts, Brown attests that the all-female medical team really helped to win over hearts and minds and facilitate relationships.
“We started to see women on a regular basis at the Role 2. But at the start, we never saw any. Then we started to see young girls, then older women and then mid-adult age women. This symbolized that we had advanced in our relationship and were trusted. It helped to have an advanced female medical team made up of an orthopedic doctor, anesthesiologist, critical care nurse, hospital corpsman and translator. We pulled from every level of care we had to comprise our team,” said Brown.
The all-female team became high profile in the area. They utilized all the resources at their disposal and devoted extra time and effort helping the local populace. Brown and her team shared what they could, even donating underutilized supplies such as gauze and a few instruments. All this helped to show that they were willing to assist the locals.
Still, they were in the midst of a very volatile region of the country. They were always very careful in going to the hospital to provide medical care. Hospital visits were always carefully coordinated with safety and security being of paramount importance.
The local hospital itself had seen better days. Three decades of war had depleted skilled medical workers, and supplies were meager. There was a limited infrastructure, not only in the hospital but throughout the region.
“There were simply not a lot of resources. It was also frustrating to see so much poverty and what the prolonged war had done to the country. In conversation with our translators, they would share on how it used to be,” Brown said.
Along with being smack in a war zone and trying to deliver medical care to a populace in need, there were constant logistical, location, and logical issues to handle and comprehend on a daily basis. Those dilemmas were part of the legacy from constant warfare over the past 30 years.
“Dealing with the Afghan people in such a different environment to ours, and trying to understand the psychology of them living in nearly impossible situations was so difficult,”
Brown shared, adding that the cultural divide would always lessen when a local hospital provider would contact them to see a specific patient.
“There were many cases I remember such as when we were asked to care for a local child with a femur fracture that had been that way for a week. The provider added an ‘oh by the way can I send another I’m caring for.’ The other kid, around 10 to 12 years old, had wounds sustained from live ordnance – with a finger already amputated, an upper extremity open wound and a serious tibia fracture. We took care of him and essentially saved his leg,” said Brown.
Local children finding improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance were a constant theme, such as one local child finding an IED, with the resulting blast caused a huge skull defect.
“The child’s father had cared for him but we took him in and immediately provided emergency care. With treatment and therapy the young child went from being bed ridden to using a walker to zooming around our area,” remembered Brown, adding that they sent him to the Role 3 multinational medical unit at Kandahar Air Field and then on to Landstuhl for neurological help.
“It was case by case consideration, but an example of doing all we can. I was able to work with a great team. We made due with the resources we had. We were all a little proud to do a lot without all the extras that are normal at our military treatment facilities. We got used to that,” stated Brown.
Corpsmen skills honed on the field of battle became integral training at home, especially with NHB’s Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) program.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Joseph Alvis, a veteran of several Afghan deployments, including one to the unstable Sangin district of Helmand Province and another as a special operations combat medic in Western Afghanistan, helped teach the required course to other corpsmen. He relied upon his hard-earned experience to share the necessary techniques, abilities and knowledge needed to provide emergency medical support and evacuation in a combat environment. He demanded rapid response, prompt assessments, and precise applications from the students. Indecision, unease, or procrastination were antagonists to be overcome.
“I want(ed) everyone to get a feel for how difficult things become when treating a patient in combat. What seems a simple task can become your worst enemy on the battlefield if you don't practice medicine under stress,” Alvis explained.
Alvis attests that corpsmen have to know – and immediately respond - to handling primary and secondary patient assessment, administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), shock recognition, spinal stabilization, casualty drag and carry, dealing with airway emergencies, hemorrhage control, chest needle decompression, and applying splinting and pressure dressings.
HM2 (Fleet Marine Force qualified) Michael Marchante was one – of many - who immediately responded to the need of emergency medical support.
Marchante was involved in combat operations searching for enemy locations when a soldier from the Republic of Georgia stepped on an IED in a wadi (dry streambed) in southern Helmand Province.
He ran approximately 300 meters – well over three football fields in length - across improvised IED laden ground through small arms fire to save the life of a severely wounded soldier.
Once reaching the badly wounded platoon commander, he promptly applied tourniquets and pressure dressings to staunch the rapid blood loss, still coming under enemy gun fire. With the bullets flying all around, he shielded the casualty with his own body and continued to provide life-saving medical care.
For his actions on that day, Marchante was recognized with the Bronze Star medal with Combat Distinguishing Device.
“It was just something that came naturally. As soon as I heard the blast, my training kicked in and I ran to provide medical care. I was the only corpsman there, and that’s what we do,” said Marchante, understating the surrounding dangers of his involvement.
The day began with Marchante, from Murrieta, Calif., part of a mounted Marine patrol that linked up with other coalition forces to participate searching a specific area that was known to provide the enemy with firing positions.
After Marchante’s group established a western vantage point in the area in question, they soon came under sustained small arms fire. Meanwhile, elements of the 33rd Georgian Light Infantry Battalion were actively sweeping for reported IEDs in the area. The soldiers were moving back to their vehicles when the scout platoon commander stepped on the pressure-plate IED. The subsequent blast hurled him into the air, amputated his right leg, and peppered his other lower extremities with shrapnel.
Marchante immediately grabbed his medical kit bag and followed his team leader and two Marine explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians as they quickly swept a safe path through the threat of secondary and tertiary IEDs to the wounded soldier.
Witnesses noted that the enemy gunfire was heavy for the first two to three minutes with rounds landing within inches of Marchante as he focused his complete attention on saving the life of the soldier in front of him. Without regard for his own safety, Marchante instinctively used his body to shield the casualty. While initially positioned at the foot of the casualty, he then pivoted, exposing his back to enemy fire while he knelt over the casualty to continue to provide protection as he rendered the needed critical care. As the enemy fire continued, other coalition personnel went prone to avoid it, but Marchante remained in his kneeling position to continue to provide vital emergency care.
He applied tourniquets to both legs and several pressure dressings to stop the heavy blood loss. After the Marines positioned a Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle to shield the casualty and Marchante, that ended the incoming gunfire threat. By that time, the bleeding had stopped and Marchante assisted in loading the casualty into the vehicle which was then used to transport to a hastily-setup helicopter landing zone. Marchante continued to provide medical aid in the MRAP and up to the point the casualty was handed off to the crew of the Medical Evacuation helicopter.
Throughout Marchante’s deployment, his medical assistance was officially documented to be directly responsible for preserving the lives of 14 Georgian soldiers. The summary of action on his award for the Bronze Star read in part that ‘his courage under fire, his care for his fellow man, and his proficiency as a corpsman were inspiring to witness.’
“The Marines I deployed with, Army medics and other corpsman in Afghanistan and elsewhere…this is what we do. I didn’t think I did anything special, except my job,” Marchante said, at the time attached to Supporting Arms Liaison Team Delta, 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, Headquarters Group (Forward), 11 Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) from May 15, 2011 to Dec. 4, 2011.
Their mission to provide support to a few isolated patrol bases manned by soldiers of the Republic of Georgia.
“Marchante displayed courage in the face of the enemy while under fire, and his actions undoubtedly saved the life of the scout platoon commander that day,” stated U.S. Marine Corps Capt. S.A. Stewart, team leader, who witnesses the actions.
Overall during that time, Marchante conducted over 100 combat patrols and 50 convoys in support of the 33rd and 31st Georgian Light Infantry Battalion. He established himself as the most knowledgeable medical provider for over 400 Marines, Georgian soldiers, Afghan National Army soldiers and Afghan interpreters.
Along with being continually sought out to provide medical care ranging from scorpion stings to gastrointestinal concerns, Marchante also mentored and tutored the Georgian medics. He also rendered medical care to local nationals, including treating one child suffering from an open fracture. Because of that care and compassion, he helped strengthen the relationship between the Georgian soldiers and the local residents, considered one small victory in the difficult counterinsurgency fight.
Despite Operation Enduring Freedom ending Dec. 29, 2014, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel completed Mar. 31, 2019, Operation Resolute Support continues as a NATO-led mission to train, advice, and assist the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and institutions.
HM1 Nicholas Behel recently returned from spending approximately a one-year deployment. He was one of three Navy biomedical equipment technicians supporting the NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
“I felt that my work had a direct impact on my unit's ability to complete its mission to render medical aid to American troops and their coalition partners,” Behel said.
A biomedical equipment technician like Behel is considered vital to maintain, troubleshoot, align, and calibrate medical equipment.
“In this remote setting, we were the subject matter experts on all facets of the medical equipment life cycle. This included tracking and maintaining around 700 pieces of equipment, providing emergency repairs, ensuring that new equipment requests were compatible with the facility,” explained Behel.
Due to the locale, Behel and his other ‘bio-med techs’ also served as primary casualty receiving personnel and managed their unit's fleet of vehicles.
“The phrase ‘turn water into wine’ became a slogan for the biomed shop after we managed to revive multiple aging pieces of equipment including our dental x-ray which was formerly deemed unrepairable,” recalled Behel.
As many will readily attest, an Afghanistan deployment can – and will - present many challenges. Behel was faced in dealing with limited spare parts, ageing equipment, operating in a harsh environment that could impact equipment, and a facility with an unfamiliar power supply serving equipment with mixed requirements.
Yet throughout it all, they made it happen.
“Further, as a biomed technician, our orders were twice as long as our shipmates, resulting in being part of three different rotations. I definitely feel like it was worth it. I made many lifetime friends and got to serve with people from many different places in the world all working towards a common mission. I feel that my sense of humanity was greatly expanded during the experience and am proud of the difference that my country is making,” stated Behel.
The 97 percent casualty survival rate achieved on the fields of battle in Afghanistan - and Iraq -did come at a tragic cost which NHB remembers.
There are 57 etched names of hospital corpsmen, 26 who served in Afghanistan, represented on NHB’s ‘Hospital Corps Heroes' Wall of Honor,’ all lost serving their country during time of war.
As Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, Navy surgeon general and chief, U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery has announced, the Navy’s renewed emphasis is in operational readiness with the core mission of ensuring force medical readiness and medical force readiness.
That emphasis and primary responsibility extends far beyond Central Asia to ashore and afloat needs across the globe to increase survivability in any difficult environment.
Such as that experienced by the men and women of Naval Hospital Bremerton down range.
Note:
Role 1 - refers to emergency medical care in the field, historically handled by independent duty corpsmen.
Role 2 - is a Battalion Aid Station providing emergency surgical care, stabilizing hemodynamic status in order to send the patient to the Role 3. It is also where the wounded are linked up with a nurse and physician in the chain of evacuation.
Role 3 - multinational medical unit at Kandahar Air Field has the highest level of care available in theater, with additional capabilities such as specialist diagnostic resources, specialist surgical and medical capabilities, and preventive medicine.
Role 4 - Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, is the largest American hospital outside the United States.
Role 5 sites are stateside hospitals with complete treatment and rehabilitation capability.
| Date Taken: | 12.23.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.23.2019 17:01 |
| Story ID: | 357147 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 720 |
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