Combat Nurses: The OR

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. D. Clare
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Editor's note: This is the second installment of a six part series by Tech. Sgt. D. Clare titled "Combat Nurses." In the series Sergeant Clare takes an in-depth and personal look at how nurses from different specialties are caring for the war wounded at one of the busiest trauma centers in the world.

Statistically, the Air Force Theater Hospital performs more life-saving trauma procedures in four months than most major metropolitan trauma hospitals handle in a year. Behind every procedure is an operating room nurse.

Capt. George Moctezuma, an OR nurse, wears a black tunic that is punctuated with blood-red chili peppers.

"When a lot of people think of nursing, even on the outside, they think of 'white hat' nursing. They picture someone at the bedside passing meds. It's much more than that, in the military, it's (much) more," he says.

It's another busy night for the captain's team; back-to-back surgeries. They operated on an Iraqi policeman who'd lost several fingers in a blast. 

The captain had just finished assisting in an operation on another Iraqi who was shot through the lower back. The exit wound for the gunshot victim was the size of a fist, and the team worked overtime to shore up internal bleeding. 

The captain, a San Antonio native, said one of the most remarkable aspects of treating trauma in Iraq is the diversity of services offered and the number of injuries treated simultaneously.

To prepare and facilitate operations, Captain Moctezuma can find himself prepping the patient and operating room for a brain surgeon, optomologist, general surgeon and orthopedic specialist and more. He has facilitated care for geriatric patients and even helped deliver babies. 

It's difficult to see young men, women and children injured, said the father of four. But there's no one he would rather have caring for his kids if they were injuried than the military surgeons, technicians and nurses on his team.

At 43, Captain Moctezuma began his military career decades ago as an enlisted medic. After earning his degree in nursing, he worked part time in the civilian sector before earning his commission.

The differences are tangible, he said, and confirmed his decision to stay in uniform. Foremost for him, military nurses never have to limit the care they provide, as may be the case in civilian medicine. The needs of his patients always come first.

"There's also a hierarchy in civilian medicine that you don't see in the military. Here, we're all military officers. Everyone is respected," the captain said.

He recalls a young soldier stopping through the emergency room weeks before. The young man had already had surgery at another hospital in Iraq and was enroute to Germany for follow-up care. Captain Moctezuma noticed an external fixator on the man's leg. It was taught and tight.

"A surgeon was walking by and I said, 'Hey, this leg doesn't look right.' Within 30 to 40 minutes he was in the operating room because he needed (surgery)."

The procedure relieved pressure that was causing a loss of circulation to the Soldier's muscle tissue.

"A surgeon told me, if he wouldn't have gotten the surgery, if it had been missed, he would have literally lost his leg," says Captain Moctezuma. "They would have had to take it off because the muscle would have died."

"No one came back and told me, 'Don't be doing our job and don't diagnose.' They said 'thank you'."

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