Air Force medics support trauma mission for warriors

  • Published
  • By Linda Frost
  • 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) --  A recent influx of trauma cases at Wilford Hall Medical Center here sheds light on the importance of the hospital's civilian trauma mission with the city of San Antonio, and the high caliber of training it provides for military doctors and medics here.

During the month of September, Air Force doctors at Wilford Hall Medical Center on Lackland Air Force Base treated 125 trauma patients, of which 24 were gunshot or stab wounds.

Several of the victims included San Antonio police officers and innocent bystanders.

"These trauma cases were all similar to injury and wounding patterns we see at both of our Air Force theater hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Lt. Col. (Dr) Todd Rasmussen, the Wilford Hall Medical Center chief of surgery.

"During these cases, our medics performed absolutely admirably and exercised nearly every aspect of combat casualty care. Having recently returned from a war zone, I find the similarity striking," Colonel Rasmussen said. 

The care of civilian emergencies in military treatment facilities in San Antonio remains absolutely critical for the wing's mission and training the world's best warrior medics, said Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Thomas W. Travis, the 59th Medical Wing commander.

"Our medics who care for these war-like injuries on the homefront gain unparalleled experience, which prepares them to provide the finest care for our injured troops in Iraq and Afghanistan," General Travis said. 

Four years ago in September, Air Force officials activated the largest, most active theater hospital since Vietnam. It stood up at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

In September of 2004, a small group of Air Force doctors from Wilford Hall Medical Center led the way in establishing a successful combat casualty care facility that today has become a state-of-the-art field hospital.

A team of seven Air Force surgeons assumed operations of the Level III surgical hospital on Joint Base Balad from the Army's 31st Combat Support Hospital on Sept. 16, 2004. Since that time, countless other Air Force medics, also trained in trauma care at Wilford Hall, have joined that combat casualty care effort in Iraq. To date, military doctors have handled 22,173 surgical cases at the Air Force Theater Hospital there.

"Their bravery, expertise and success stemmed largely from having worked together as a military trauma unit over a decade at the Air Force's flagship medical center in San Antonio," Colonel Rasmussen said.

Not only has the 59th Medical Wing sustained a wartime trauma mission in Iraq, but also now supports a second level III Air Force Theater Hospital at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

"The spectrum of civilian trauma care at Wilford Hall, from admission to discharge, assures the training and maintenance of skills that are so critical, and translate so directly to the care of injured troops in warfare," Colonel Rasmussen said.

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