Burned boy evacuated from Balad
13 APR 2008
I read a great announcement from the AF news service that they had been able to airlift a burned boy from Iraq to the Shriner's' Burn Hospital in Cincinnati. He is a three-year-old boy who had been burned over 45% of his body by a cooking fire in his home. I saw this exact scenario so many times in Iraq. Many of the homes are one-room dwellings that have an open or poorly shielded cooking fire in the middle. It is so easy for the crawlers and walkers to stumble into the fire and get burned by the cooking fuel or scalded by the meal. We never were able to keep alive a child who had been burned over more than half of his body. In comparison, at US burn hospitals, the specialized staff is frequently able to save children who have been burned over 90% of their bodies. I hope this Iraqi child does well and is home soon.
(Photo Source: LaRock, USAF)
13 APR 2008
I read a great announcement from the AF news service that they had been able to airlift a burned boy from Iraq to the Shriner's' Burn Hospital in Cincinnati. He is a three-year-old boy who had been burned over 45% of his body by a cooking fire in his home. I saw this exact scenario so many times in Iraq. Many of the homes are one-room dwellings that have an open or poorly shielded cooking fire in the middle. It is so easy for the crawlers and walkers to stumble into the fire and get burned by the cooking fuel or scalded by the meal. We never were able to keep alive a child who had been burned over more than half of his body. In comparison, at US burn hospitals, the specialized staff is frequently able to save children who have been burned over 90% of their bodies. I hope this Iraqi child does well and is home soon.
(Photo Source: LaRock, USAF)
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4 comments:
I am glad you were able to help him. The girl my husband tried to saved was not so lucky. He and his comander made arrangements to transport her and her mother to the burn center near the FOB. They showed up and the mother said they could not go, there was no male relative to escort them. My husband pleaded with her to let him take the girl, promised to put her in the care of a female medic. Still the mother would not consent. My husband believes the girl died several days later from infection. Very sad.
My admiration and thanks to you and your husband. Hope the year is up fast. CC
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 04/14/2008 News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.
Chris - I just finished grading a slew of Norwich papers and was wondering how my best student was faring over there. I see that you are still up to your great work, making the world a better place, one person at a time. A fellow NU student currently in PreReq just deployed, (USAF B1B). Told him to look you up. Can email you his info. Take care. Thinking of you in the Alamo City. Stay safe. Gail
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