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U.S. Medevac Crews Stay Busy in Afghanistan
Monday, November 18, 2002
By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
U.S. medical evacuation aircraft crews stayed busy in Afghanistan over the weekend, proving how dangerous a place the war-torn country remains.

In three instances, Afghan civilians with potentially life-threatening injuries were evacuated and treated by American medical assets, Defense Department officials said today. In a separate incident, a U.S. service member was evacuated for treatment of a broken wrist.

In the first of the three Afghan incidents, a man in the village of Qala-E-Nasra lost a foot in a mine explosion. He was evacuated to the U.S. Combat Support Hospital at Bagram Air Base, near Kabul, and is in stable condition after undergoing surgery, officials said.

An Afghan man in the village of Tarin Khowt, about 200 miles southwest of Kabul, sustained severe injuries to his right hand, leg and foot when a hand grenade exploded under unknown circumstances, according to military reports. Officials said the man would have lost his hand had he not been flown to Kandahar airfield, where an American forward surgical team treated him.

The third incident involved two children and one adult shot in the village of Deh Rawod, about 50 miles north of Kandahar on the afternoon of Nov. 16. A three-year-old was shot in the face, and a 17-year-old was shot in the right thigh. The father of the three-year-old was also shot in his right calf and forearm, but his injuries weren't reported to be as serious as those of the children, defense officials said.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

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