FRIDAY, 20 AUGUST 2004 - WEEK IN REVIEW
 
I have been out of the loop this week as I have been attending the unit's drivers training course.  I spent the week learning how to drive two of the Army's most popular vehicles - the HUMMW-V (aka HUM-V) and the 5-ton truck.  This was a good opportunity for me.  I have been wanting this license for several years and I am glad I was able to take some time away from the hospital to do this class.  The class was 6 junior enlisted soldiers (all E-3's and E-4's) and me.  Several people asked me why I was taking this class.  My standard answer was that it was something I wanted to do for a while.  That is only part of the reason.  Another reason is that I enjoy learning to do things that soldiers do; it is what makes being an Army doc so much more special than being a civilian doc.  The final, and most important reason, is that I believe that gaining an understanding and appreciation for all the things that our soldiers and NCO's do will make me a better officer.  That is just my personal opinion.

The most exciting medical event of the week was the five casualties we received early one morning after a Stryker vehicle rolled over.  This is the second Stryker roll-over within a month.  I am guessing the roll-overs are mostly due to driving at excessive speeds; those things move FAST.  The last roll-over that we were involved in resulted in two guys killed.  This time the soldiers were much luckier.  Four of the guys had relatively minor cuts and bruises and only required basic wound care.  The fifth soldier was found to have a stable C-1 fracture.  C-1 is the first cervical vertebrae or the first bone of your spine at the top of your neck right below your head.  Stable means that it is not displaced and not pushing on the spinal cord or other nerves.  In other words there was no paralysis associated with this injury.  However, there is the potential for this to become unstable if the proper care is not administered.  The soldier was put in a rigid neck collar to immobilize his cervical spine and a special Air Force CCAT (Critical Care Air Transport) Team was called to AIREVAC him to Landstuhl Germany.  At Landstuhl the Orthopedic Surgeons will definitively treat him with some type of spinal immobilization.  He should do well.  Unfortunately we will most likely never find out about his final outcome.  One thing that we would like to see improved around here is the feedback from Landstuhl.  We send a large number of ill and injured patients to Landstuhl every month and only on a rare occasion do we ever find out about the status of any of our patients.  On more than one occasion I have asked our unit to assign an LNO (liaison officer) to Landstuhl to follow the patients that we evacuate there.  This LNO would be able to report back to us on the status of our patients.  This feedback would allow us to learn what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong during the initial trauma care.  It would also allow us to update the line unit Commanders of the status of their soldiers.  Unfortunately, to this date no one has really considered sending someone to Landstuhl to do this job.  Too bad, I would be willing to volunteer!