Does it Make a Difference

I have been asked alot does there seem to be any progress here..if all this sacrifice doing anything. Ultimately I have to think that it is, for so much sacrifice both by the Brits and the US, especially the 3/5 marines.
This link is of one such story and validates to some extent the sacrifice that goes on here.
The 3/5 marines rip out of here soon back home, and hopefully some of their efforts remain.
Pictures below are from the article (see URL below)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/mar/09/pendleton-marines-help-afghan-governor-meet-his-pe/

Busy

Things have been pretty busy here...ORs running most of day and into the night. Got to do another Lung Case yesterday: Left Upper lobectomy this time. Pic is of dogs and handlers out for their morning stroll in front of the hospital. They sometimes bring the dogs around and you get to play a little :)   great therapy!!!! And the dogs seem to like it too...lol

A Kind of Weird Afgan Day

Today was, for a lack of a better word, a really weird day.  It is of course St. Patties Day which for the British Isles is a pretty big deal. But juxtaposed with that was the casualties: An ISAF solider with a GSW to the chest that ended up dieing in the OR and to make matters worse, supposedly the Taliban sniper that shot him came in after being hit with a HELLFIRE missile..and we managed to save him. Fortunately I don't think he will be causing any more problems for the ISAF forces. And then we had our St. Pattie's Day Barbecue.  Sometimes this feels like something out of a MASH episode.  It is the people around you, Brits and Americans that seem to get you through the days.

Another Its a Small Small World Event

I forgot to mention but definitely had a really Its a Small Small World Event here.  One of the anesthesiologists that I have been working with is also from my home town and we actually grew up together and lived about 1/2 mile from each other!!!  His Dad was a barber in the town and I remember him cutting my hair as a child.  Just to weird!

Final Word on Liam Tasker

This was just a final piece on Liam Tasker and his dog.  One thing that is very neat is that when a British solider dies in battle their body lands at the Royal Air Force base in south England and takes the same route to its final destination and in doing so passes through this one small town: Wootton Bassett. When the vehicles pass through the town the people line the street in silence as it goes by. It has become a very touching tradition.  Unfortunately we really don't have anything like that in the US.

http://ktar.com/category/world-news-articles/20110310/UK-soldier,-loyal-dog,-make-final-journey-together/

USMC Soilder and the Brits

It has been very busy for up to today. It has been warmer and as the saying goes: "Kinetic activity has increased. Which is not unexpected.
Several days ago we had a USMC casualty come in with some of the most severe injuries we have seen so far. He required over 50 units of pRBCs, 50+ units of FFP (yes it is 1:1 here) plts and cryo.  He also got Factor VIIA which is almost never heard of ...AND he ended up with 4 units of Fresh Whole Blood (FWB). We could talk about FWB for pages, but here it is kind of considered a miracle drug in that it seems to be able to pretty much reverse intractable coagulopathy.  The way it works is that a walking blood bank (WBB) is set up: meaning that people all over the two bases are pre-screened and then when needed the it is activated and people come in an donate a unit of blood which is then quickly processed and given to the patient. IT IS STILL WARM AS IT GOES INTO THE PATIENT!  I have seen the results and yes it can be pretty dramatic.
But again...that is not the real story here...Usually for US forces CMP Leatherneck (US) WBB is activated and US donors are taken to give blood. And the same for the Brits..usually British at Camp Bastion are brought in to donate for the Brits. Nothing special...just the way it is set up.  Turns out it was very difficult to get the US WBB activated in time...so the Brits donated the blood. But it doesn't end there. It turns one of the donors was the SNO (pronounced snow = Senior Nurse Office for the Brits) and the other was the British nurse taking care of him in the ICU!!!!!  When I thanked him he looked at me and gave a shrug and said in a nonchalant way that only a Brit could do: "IT was the least I could do." Truly amazing. You really have love the Brits.

How do Consumate Professionals Pass Time at Bastion

It has been very rainy here for the last 4+ days so it has been very wet (remember wet here = mud) and kind of depressing..more than usual.  Today actually was sunny and cool but nice.  Pic below is how the mature professionals pass time here at Bastion: An indoor Cricket Match between the Americans and the Brits 

More on Liam Tasker and his Dog

Forgot to put in this link on a story that was done before.
http://ukforcesafghanistan.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/spaniel-takes-the-lead-in-finding-hidden-weapons/

The US has dogs and handlers also. What is neat about the US pair is that the dog is alway one rank higher than its handler  :)

Another Amazing Story

I am pretty sure this solider and his dog came to Bastion Hospital to visit. Sad but very neat story. Unfortunately since these dogs and their handlers are so good at what they do they are prime Taliban targets
Picture is from article linked below.
lance-corporal-liam-richard-tasker