U.S., U.K. medical forces work together

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Marti Ribeiro
  • 401st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM (AFNS) --  Wounded British forces may speak the same language as some of their new medics, but they definitely have a different accent.

Air Force medical teams have joined British forces to receive and care for British soldiers evacuated to a deployed Operation Iraqi Freedom location. While United Kingdom medical teams care for the victims in the air, once they are on the ground a joint team of physicians, nurses and surgeons from the U.K. and the Air Force work together to help the wounded and sick.

There are almost 30 American medics, commanded by Lt. Col. Brian McCrary, working in cooperation with the British teams. The hospital where the medevac teams work is the primary evacuation site for forward deployed British forces, but has also been used for civilian and U.S. casualties during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"Since the beginning of the war, we've had more than 200 patients evacuated into here," said RAF Group Capt. David McConnell, the hospital commander. Most of the injuries were not battle-related, he said.

"We've had soldiers come in with severe back problems or diseases -- these are considered non-battle injuries," said British Army Col. Nuri Ismail, a lead consultant surgeon. "But, we have also had our fair share of battle-related injuries."

Patients with shrapnel, land mine and high-velocity gun shot wounds have frequented the hospital in the last few weeks, Ismail said, and are in good hands of the joint medical team.

"Patients wounded in battle are sent to us with open wounds," said Lt. Col. Teresa Goodpaster, an Air Force general surgeon with the team here. "We clean them and either close them up or get them ready to send (for further treatment)," she said.

While the integration of the Americans into the British medical center has been pretty smooth, there were some differences to overcome, members from both countries said.

"It took a little getting used to a different system with slightly different medications, but the personnel have learned to adapt and have worked really well together," Goodpaster said. "Having the Americans here has been great," said British Army Col. Keith Galbraith, a consultant surgeon. "We've learned a lot from them but at the same time, they have proven to be an essential part of the mission."

This isn't the first time American service members have visited this hospital, according to Galbraith. During the embassy bombing in Beirut almost 20 years ago, injured Marines were transferred to this British hospital for stabilization before being shipped to an American hospital in Germany. "We actually had 21 of the worst cases from that bombing come through here," Galbraith said.

Fortunately there have been few casualties during this operation. Once the likelihood of battle casualties decreases even more, the American forces will disperse and the medevac teams will revert back to an all-British makeup. But, for right now, the U.K. and U.S. are working well together. No matter what language you speak, medical care is universal.