Читать книгу Welcome Home From Vietnam, Finally - Gus Kappler MD - Страница 22

As related previously, day or night, there was never a shortage of dedicated helping hands in the ED. Our pharmacist, Wes was a constant. Marilyn and Sergeant Ken ran a tight ED ship. The airway and chest integrity were always checked. Oxygen was given. Blankets were used for warmth. Multiple intravenous, i.e., IV routes, were established by cut down, incising the skin to find a vein and using large caliber IV tubing to administer blood and fluids as rapidly as possible. A needle was passed blindly through the skin of the chest wall under the collarbone into the subclavian vein i.e., a large vein that carries blood from the arm into the chest.

Multiple fragment wounds (MFW) of the legs, abdomen, and chest; subclavian catheter inserted on the right

A catheter followed this puncture through the needle to also administer blood and fluids and to check on the patient’s blood volume and heart function (on patient’s right side). A tube was placed in the urinary bladder to measure urine production, a gauge of the effectiveness of the patient’s restored circulation.

The ever-present corpsmen shepherded the wounded in the ED and scrubbed in at surgery to assist in operating and in organizing the instruments.

“Tree” (Dave), Donn, Gus, Duane, and Mike

We were brothers doing our job. I just spent time with Dave, Donn, Duane and Mike at our 85th Evac reunion in September ’14. Roger and Patti were also there. Unfortunately Dave recently succumbed to Agent Orange (Dioxin) induced colon cancer.

We were all essentially kids, i.e., in our early twenties to early thirties in 1970, and all performed admirably as a cohesive unit.

Read One Man’s Story: Memoirs of a Vietnam Vetby Michael Clark to appreciate 85th Evac corpsman’s experience.