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Airmen, Soldiers treat wounded following suicide attack

  • Published
  • By Capt. J. Elaine Hunnicutt
  • Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs
JALALABAD, Afghanistan --  Like a scene out of "M*A*S*H", Airmen and Soldiers, guardsmen and reservists, civilians and Afghans from the Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team provided assistance to the survivors of a suicide bombing in late April.

Tech. Sgt. Jason Williams rushed into the dining facility and shouted "the birds are on their way, and there are wounded coming in."

In a mad dash, trays, still filled with hot chow, were frantically discarded as the entire facility cleared out. The team poured out of the doors and headed for the landing zone to meet the helicopters.

Even the Afghan Security Guards with no medical training held tarps over patients and shooed flies away during the two hours the wounded lay in the 100-plus-degree heat, waiting for the ambulances to arrive.

Wounds varied in magnitude; most patients had what appeared to be bullet wounds and shrapnel. No one turned away from the blood and suffering - they rolled up their sleeves and jumped in to help, regardless of skill set.

Capt. Scott Carbaugh, Tech. Sgt. William Allison, Staff Sgt. Ruth Koehler and Staff Sgt. Daniel Perry are all Air Force medical professionals assigned to the PRT that reacted to the incident. In addition, Army Capt. Timothy O'Donnell and Spc. Edward Fisher were among the PRT trained medical personnel, and an army of qualified Combat Life Savers in the crowd assisting them. Several reservists and guardsmen also had medical backgrounds useful during the mass casualty response.

Captain Carbaugh, Nangarhar PRT physician assistant, coordinated the helicopters arrival from the Joint Operations Center.

"Captain Carbaugh did a great job organizing the whole thing from the JOC while keeping in contact with his medics, still rendering aid once all coordination was made," said Sergeant Perry.

Sergeant Perry was sent to the landing zone; Sergeant Allison was positioned at the clinic; while Sergeant Koehler headed to the gate to escort the ambulances to the landing zone.

"I was in the JOC when the initial reports came in on the explosion in Khogyani. The initial report indicated 35 local nationals were wounded," said Capt. Gregory Rogers, operations officer.

"The inbound choppers radioed and said that they were bringing the routine, or less injured, local nationals here," he said. "But when they arrived, it was obvious that these patients were not routine; they were urgent surgical."

The team was surprised when two helicopters delivered seven patients in critical condition. They had been told that they would be stabilizing walking wounded in minimal condition until they could be transported to a medical facility in Jalalabad City via ambulance.

"It had to be a sickening feeling being the only one on the LZ and to pull one casualty after another off of the bird in critical condition," Captain Carbaugh said of Sergeant Perry's experience.

Sergeant Perry took each patient off of the bird and laid them out, re-triaged them to determine their wounds.

Sergeant Koehler said she was a little overwhelmed.

"I was in the middle of trying to escort the ambulances to the LZ, and we only had one person down there with two birds and seven patients," she said. "The team made a huge difference; everyone was very attentive to the patients and did everything they could to make them comfortable. The patients that were conscious were very appreciative and understanding."

Captain Rogers said the stability of the province they work in sometimes hides the realities of being in a combat zone, but this event left him reassured of the competence and compassion of the team's medical personnel.

"There was blood everywhere," he said. "We carried the patients off of the bird and put them on the LZ so that the helicopter could return to the scene and get more patients.
"The experience demonstrates the unique nature of the PRT mission and the experience the National Guard and Reserve personnel contribute from their civilian professions."

"I am so proud of each and every member of this team; I could not have asked them to do any better. The best part is ... I didn't have to ask," said Lt. Col. Paul Donovan, Nangarhar PRT commander. "They are a giving group of highly trained and motivated Soldiers and Airmen."

The Nangarhar PRT medics have responded to more than 20 incidents at all hours of the day and night since the team's arrival in early March. Civilians and military are flown through the PRT as an alternate landing zone when needed until the patients can be transported to a military medical facility or to the appropriate civilian facilities for higher levels of care elsewhere.