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Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Medics earn gratitude by assisting Iraqi burn victims
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Convoy Support Center Scania, Iraq — Burn victims line up outside the gate to this U.S. military base every day.
Relatives help them limp in. Or they carry them in.
The skin of the victims often is black from burns or yellowing from infection. Their bandages are old and poorly fitted.
As the weather grows colder, the number of burn victims is increasing.
Some come here after receiving poor treatment at local hospitals. They sit on a wooden bench outside a metal shipping container the American medics have converted into a clinic.
Jeremy Redmon/AJC
Spc. Joseph McGough (left) and Staff Sgt. Tim Turner care for Hussian Kadim Abd, who had tried to light an oven without realizing there was a gas leak in his home. “George Bush and the United States did good things for us and the next generation,” he said.
“If we help them, they will look out for us. It gives them a good impression of Americans,” said Spc. Joseph McGough, 21, a medic with the 36th Area Support Medical Co., based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
McGough’s unit is preparing to return home after several months here, so he and his buddies helped medics from Georgia’s 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment take over the job of treating civilians.
Good treatment
Hady Abd Allah brought his 15-year-old son, Dhayah, one morning recently. The boy’s left arm and left leg were burned while he was refueling a generator.
“My son ran away. We were chasing him, and we put blankets on him,” his father said through an interpreter working with the U.S. soldiers.
McGough and Staff Sgt. Tim Turner of Decatur began bandaging the boy’s burns. When the medics were finished, the boy’s 18-year-old brother, Raayhd, helped him limp out the door.
“There is good treatment here, and it is a safe place,” said their father.
Next came Hussian Kadim Abd, a 55-year-old veteran of the Iraq-Iran war. He had burns from his head to his legs. His skin was yellow from infection, and he was suffering from a cold and high fever. His breathing was labored.
A nephew helped him into the clinic, saying his uncle was burned when he went to light his oven and didn’t realize there was a gas leak in his home.
“This is better than what we get at the local hospital,” said the nephew, Salam Mohammad, a 32-year-old farmer. “Basically, they did nothing for him.”
Local hospitals fall short
The medics started peeling away Hussian’s dead skin so it would not become infected. They wet the rest of the burned area with sterile water so it would come off more easily the next day. Then they wrapped the wounds in bandages slick with a medicinal ointment.
As they worked, the medics found bandage strings and burn cream under Hussian’s skin. A local hospital failed to remove them, the medics said.
“Some of the hospitals are still trying to catch up to our standards,” said Turner, 38, a Georgia National Guard soldier who works at a Home Depot. “This is my first time dealing with this many burns and to this extent.”
When the medics were through, Hussian talked about how Saddam Hussein’s regime captured and tortured him for dropping out of the Iraqi military.
“George Bush and the United States did good things for us and the next generation,” he said. Then, he turned to Turner and bowed slightly.
“Thanks. I’m very grateful,” he said.
As the man left, Turner said: “It’s always good to hear that.”
Help for a child
Moments later, a father and mother walked in with their 15-month-old son. The boy’s left hand was bluish and swollen from a burn he suffered after putting his arm into a pot of hot chicken soup. It was his fourth day in a row at the U.S. clinic. His family decided to skip the local hospital.
“We know the result, so why even try?” said his father, Mohammad Abd, who watched his son with deep concern.
He told the medics, “I’ll never forget this all my life.”
Mohammad’s wife held the boy as Turner removed dead skin from his hand. But she soon fainted, and her husband picked her up and took her outside.
When Mohammad returned, Turner tried to reassure him. “It happens to the best of us,” he said.
After the family left, a young man appeared outside the clinic and asked if the medics could see a relative suffering from leukemia. They told him they didn’t have the facilities to help.
About two weeks ago, an ambulance arrived with a man suffering from burns over 80 percent of his body. He was gasping for air and too far gone to be helped, the medics said.
“You wanted to do something but you couldn’t,” said Turner, who has spent 18 years as a medic in the military and is on his third tour in the Middle East.
Turner is learning Arabic from interpreters so he can speak to his patients. He keeps a list of Arabic words and phrases he has learned from them, such as smile, kiss and lollipop.
Before the day was over, a man brought in his 3-year-old daughter. She had knocked over a teakettle and burned her left arm. Kalil Jawad said he quit his job as a storekeeper so he could care for her.
The child was upset, so, before treating her, Turner and McGough blew up latex gloves into balloons to entertain her and her 5-year-old brother.
She was their last patient of the day. No one was left sitting on the wooden bench outside. Turner and McGough closed the clinic and rode in their ambulance back through the gate.
Read Thanksgiving greetings to the troops
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Do you have a friend or loved one serving in Iraq or Afghanistan? Or just want to send a long of message of support? Send a salute to that special soldier or tell us what your family has planned for Thanksgiving.
(This blog item is now closed. Thanks for sending in your greetings)
