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November 11, 2007

U.S. military hospital brings modern care to Afghanistan

Anonymous The Press Republican Sun Nov 11, 2007, 11:16 PM EST

The recently completed medical hospital at Bagram Field, the major military post for collation forces here in Afghanistan, is a thoroughly modern facility.

The Craig Joint Theatre Hospital, staffed by both U.S. Air Force and Army personnel, was built by the Turkish construction firm Zafur and is furnished with state-of-the-art medical equipment and technology.

"It's not just the new hospital," said Colorado native Pvt. Melissa Escobar as she drove the eight-mile perimeter of the base. "Just looking around here you can see new buildings going up everywhere. See that concrete plant over there and, in that direction, Special Ops. I think we're staying for a long time."

Col. Rebecca Brown, medical operations commander at Craig, was walking through the facility, giving a rundown on each department, beginning with emergency medicine and the Intensive Care Unit.

One operating room was occupied by a doctor and two nurses who were working on an Afghan man who had stepped on a land mine. More than 150 people a month are admitted for blast wounds and burns. Local children are often badly injured by oil lamps and primitive cook stoves that are used in most homes here, and fully 30 percent of the hospital's patients are children.

"As far as the local population goes, we treat life, limb and eyesight routinely," Brown said. "In an emergency situation, we do the best that we can. In the pediatric ward here, you see that little girl being attended by her father. She fell out of a window and was run over by a car. So tragic, but we think she will pull through."

The busiest departments have their own interpreters -- a great bonus when working with patients who are trying to explain their health problems to the doctors and nurses on duty. Oddly, many of the interpreters are doctors from the old society in Kabul.

"The most astounding statistic in this operation," Brown said, "is that we have a 98-percent survival rate for wounded who are brought through that door. That's a huge improvement over Vietnam War statistics."

Sgt. Debbie Mallory manages the outpatient clinic. There is also an orthopedic clinic and a very well-equipped dental facility. Recently, dental work was performed on one of the nearly 50 dogs who work on the base. A supply of blood is kept on hand for the dogs.

According to Public Affairs Liaison Officer Lt. Clinton Nawrocki, the only facility in the country that might compare with Craig is the Canadian hospital in Kandahar. The Korean hospital that is on the Bagram base recently saw its 250,000th patient from among the locals and collation forces.

(During the Vietnam War, John Conroy served a 15-month tour with the U.S. Army in Bien Hoa, just north of Saigon. Lately, he has been with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, sharing what he sees with our readers.)