Ten Years After - NHB Staff Remembers the War in Iraq
Navy News Service
Story Number: NNS130319-05
3/19/2013
By Douglas H Stutz, Naval Hospital Bremerton Public Affairs
BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- Ten years after, there are no Naval Hospital Bremerton personnel deployed to Iraq, but from the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 to the final days of Operation New Dawn in 2011, Naval Hospital Bremerton staff members continually deployed for medical support inside and out of Iraq.
From the Kuwait/Iraq border on up to the cities along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, from Baghdad's Green Zone to the western desert of Anbar Province, and many places in between, NHB doctors, nurses, hospital corpsmen, and support staff were there.
They embedded with various units that included Marines 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Medical Battalion, Special Warfare Group Iraq, 20th Seabee Readiness Group, Civil Affairs, Warrior Transition Team, 1st Marine Expeditionary Forces, 3d Marine Air Wing, 1st Marine Logistic Group and 1st Force Service Support Group, and 28th Combat Support Hospital.
NHB sent nearly 300 staff members to augment Fleet Hospital Eight at Naval Base Rota Spain in early 2003 to gear up for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and also deployed approximately 200 additional staff members to help run Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait that rendered support to the ground mission just north of the Kuwaiti border inside Iraq through 2011.
NHB staff members were directly involved in assisting with caring for the almost 3,500 American troop fatalities and the approximately 32,000 service men and women wounded throughout OIF and OND.
Yet the decade for many NHB staff members, some who did multiple deployments, produced more than simple statistics and accumulated data. The time spent brought many to the forefront of their chosen Navy Medicine profession, in ways that forever remain etched in their professional bearing and personal mindset.
At the Beginning -
'I don't recall exactly when I knew that Fleet Hospital Eight would play a major role, but soon after 9/11, we knew something was ramping up,' said retired Hospital Corpsman Chief Steven C. Jackson, who deployed from March to September 2003 as leading chief petty officer for Fleet Hospital Eight Surgical Services. 'We were materially ready thanks to good preparation and training, but we had no idea what to expect or how it would affect our own lives.'
Naval Hospital Bremerton received orders February 2003 to staff, ready and deploy personnel to stand up and support a 116-bed Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) to Rota, Spain, in support of Operations Enduring/Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) and possible future contingencies. The Operational Readiness Department coordinated all logistics to marshal, ready and deploy 274-personnel from NHB, as well as from nine other gaining commands around the country to form Fleet Hospital Eight.
'Our first group set up the EMF on a vacant lot next to the flight line and by mid-deployment we had built the 250-bed fleet hospital in tent city,' said retired Hospital Corpsman Senior Chief Timothy D. Stewart, who was assigned to Inpatient Services as the ward leading chief petty officer. 'It seems like so long ago, and we probably weren't prepared for what was to be done. My fellow corpsmen drove stakes and erected a quality structure and cared for our wounded warriors to the best of their abilities. It was a pleasure to serve with them as they did all the hard stuff.'
Stewart noted that they treated almost 1,700 patients with 78 hospital corpsmen running seven wards and worked port to starboard (12 hours on, 12 hours off) shifts nearly the entire time deployed in 2003. 'I was extremely proud of how well my corpsmen completed their duties. We received accolades from the Soldiers and Marines we were treating,' Stewart said.
Jackson attests to the mettle and resolve of the fleet hospital staff to deal with the influx of incoming injured from the battlefield.
'Seeing some of the miracles performed by our surgeons and nurses was truly memorable. They handled facial reconstructions, avulsed limbs, severe eye injuries and more. And watching our junior corpsmen step up to effectively and efficiently handle the support challenge turned them quickly into seasoned professionals,' Jackson said.
In-Country Iraq -
Lt. Cmdr Amy White, currently assigned to Naval Hospital Oak Harbor, was on Guam in 2007 soaking up the sun and enjoying life. It would soon change as she received a short fused deployment to Afghanistan with the Special Operations Task Force. But before heading down range, she went to the main trauma central in Baghdad to further hone her skills. Which she did daily, along with adding a deadly, devastating, memory.
'So I was very excited. After all the initial weapon training my Forward Surgical Team was sent for advanced trauma training with the 28th Combat Support Hospital at Ibn Sina Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq,' said White.
Ibn Sina hospital became the de facto Iraqi capital trauma center, handling approximately 300 cases a month from its location in Baghdad's International Zone. White, Emergency Medicine division officer, and the 28th were part of a rotating Combat Support Hospital schedule for the emergency room to handle critically wounded coalition servicemembers and civilians. The hospital was featured in the HBO documentary Baghdad ER.
'Wow...what a place to learn trauma training. I quickly learned why all the Army staff didn't leave the hospital,' said White, sharing that the loudspeaker was constantly alarming for incoming mortar and rocket rounds that landed so close, with debris flying everywhere, that they actually had to go into the bunker.
'There were damaged vehicles everywhere. The windows in the hospital were blown out. It was mayhem. This was a daily occurrence so you quickly learned to stay put. You learned to stay terrified. I worked in the Intensive Care Unit with all Army nurses to include my preceptor Army Capt. Maria Ines Ortiz.'
'I had thought that Navy Nurses were the tip of the spear in military medicine but I humbly learned that the Army ICU nurses were extraordinary,' said White. 'They welcomed me with open arms and got me ready to go on an austere deployment where I would be the only ER/ICU nurse. I called my parents and said, 'pray for these Army personnel here.' They are so spent and they just got extended from 12 months to 15 months. I could not wait to get out of that place. My soul turned a corner there.'
It was on July 10, 2007, yet another day of the usual incoming mortar and rocket attacks. White remembers that everyone in the ICU took cover away from the windows and waited for the all clear. It quickly turned to chaos when within minutes it was learned that there were injuries and they needed extra support in the Emergency Department.
'It was a bloody mess. Ortiz was walking back to the hospital from the gym that was just across the street and had been hit by shrapnel in the chest/neck region and was bleeding profusely. We all accompanied her to the Operating Room and stood by and watched through the window and tried to read the surgeon's face. It was pure silence as we watched until the moment that everyone in the OR lowered their heads. It would be the start of unforgettable and devastating deployment,' said White.
Ortiz was the first Army nurse killed by hostile fire since the Vietnam War. The attack also killed two other people and wounded 18 more.
Ortiz was one of many that White and others worked to save. Most of those wounded in Iraq did make it out for further treatment. Advances in training, experience, equipment and technology has brought the survival rate of battlefield casualties up dramatically - some estimates as high as 98 percent - compared to former wars.
At the start and then back again -
Hospital Corpsmen 1st Class Cameron Wink shared his two Iraqi deployment experiences with the Kitsap SUN, describing how as a Fleet Marine Force 'doc' he was part of the Marines 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion that made the initial thrust across the Kuwait-Iraq border on the drive to north to Baghdad and Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit. During that time he dealt with battlefield wounds and injuries, along with rendering first aid to civilians.
'We really saw more Iraqi civilians for medical needs than Marines during that time. There were shrapnel and bullet wounds, but really, the Iraqis were coming to see us for just about anything because they knew we would treat them.'
There were no IED (improvised explosive devices, the signature weapon of choice that became prevalent in July that year) but there was unexploded ordnance, mortar attacks and small arm injuries, as well as preventive medicine concerns and anti-personnel mines for Wink to worry about.
'We had shrapnel wounds from mortar rounds landing near-by, as well as gunshot wounds. There were also the typical cases of being in the field to deal with such as dysentery,' said Wink.
Wink was back in Iraq in 2009 assigned to a Warrior Transition Detail where he worked directly with wounded personnel. He shared how servicemembers are now assessed before, during and after their deployment for signs of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), traumatic brain injury, concussions and depression.
'So much had changed between that time and when I was back,' said Wink, who became a psychiatric technician after the first deployment. 'We could treat the physical wounds (in '03), but didn't pay as much attention back then to their mental trauma as we do now.'
'If they're hurt, there's a 90 percent chance that they are going to survive. These are young, healthy adults. Maybe they had ambition to go to college and play football. Now they have no legs. It's hard to be 19 and think you can't accomplish some of your hopes and dreams you had before you went to war. (Because of the medical advances) I'd give up all my arms and legs to come back and see my family again,' Wink said, who has applied his Mental Health expertise to work hand in hand with other specialties to help facilitate a total treatment regime for servicemembers from the battlefield to the home front. 'Many personnel have co-occurring issues that may not arise until after treatment programs are instituted. Identifying the issue is step one. Once they identify these problems, many times after only a few sessions, the treatment team moves into action. The communication and cooperation between the separate departments allows for the individuals to achieve coping skills, life skills and overall better mental health.'
Towards the End -
Hospital Corpsman Master Chief Tom Countryman's one-year deployment from 2010 through 2011 as command master chief at Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait covered a time when the drawdown of troops in Iraq went from 90,000 to 50,000. The war-time violence abated some but didn't completely diminish.
'It didn't mean that our work load got any easier, and it didn't mean we just stopped doing what needed to be done. We continued to provide urgent and emergent expeditionary medicine and primary care, as well as combat force health sustainment. Those were our main missions,' Countryman said.
EMF Kuwait served as a Level III hospital with top-notch resources for emergency room needs, surgery requirements, Intensive Care calls, clinical providers on call, and vital laboratory and blood bank concerns.
'One of the goals I reminded our Sailors was to continue to get better than they were when they came here. My primary personal goal was the same as any other CMC that has ever been on deployment, and that was to take care of our troops and get every one of them home safely. That goes double for our patients,' Countryman said.
Although Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn have ended, Naval Hospital Bremerton continues to support ongoing contingency operations. There are approximately 34 active duty staff members currently deployed to such locations as Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa.
For more news from Naval Hospital Bremerton, visit www.navy.mil/local/nhb/.
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