Читать книгу Welcome Home From Vietnam, Finally - Gus Kappler MD - Страница 21

Our call sign was Plasma Hotel. As the medivac Huey approached, they would hide the M60 machine gun and send a transmission reflecting the number and seriousness of their precious cargo. The enemy used the Red Cross for target practice. No chopper was safe when within range of the enemy. The official interpretation of the Geneva Conventions was that the medivac Hueys could not be armed. Nonsense! They carried an M60 machine gun swung from bungee cords for protection, but once over friendly terrain, the weapon was detached.

The initial transmission was the number of KIA, i.e., killed in action. The dead were taken straight to and stacked, one on top of the other, in the KIA open-sided shack. One of Marilyn’s first priorities as the new ED supervisor was to enclose the KIA shack. We, however, always checked for signs of life since a few were not actually dead and perhaps could be saved. A gauge of the seriousness of the injuries aboard the Huey was reflected on how close the pilot landed to the ED doors.

Usually, the injured soldiers arrived in groups. Mass causalities involved many patients. Triagewas performed in order to begin organizing efficient use of resources, personnel, operating rooms, blood, meds, etc.

Please refer to Appendix Five and meet my friend Bob Nevins, founder and director of Saratoga WarHorse, who as an Eagle “Dust Off” pilot with the 326th Medical Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division heroically rescued the wounded and deposited them at the 85th Evac’s doorstep during my tenure at the hospital.

Marilyn

Ambulance, bunker for patients’ ammo, and KIA Shack

KIAsneeded no care.

Expectantswere so damaged, so close to death, and required an inordinate amount of resources ultimately endangering the chances of survival of others. Therefore, they were placed behind a screen, given morphine, and allowed to die with dignity as a nurse held their hand and promised them they would be OK. One expectant, I still recall, was a dying dehydrated, unintelligibly moaning boy whose skull on one side was missing and displayed slithering maggots nibbling on his devitalized brain tissue.

The salvageablewere brought to the OR after resuscitation was initiated in the ED or laterally evacuated to other hospitals, as the 95th Evac in Da Nang, which had medical specialists we did not.

The last triage groupwere those whose injuries did not require immediate definitive care. They were operated upon when the ORs cleared of current patients with life-threatening injuries.

All quiet in the ED