The info i posted was from the Lancet. The Households were from Baghdad and Falluja. Most of the kids were killed in Falluja. I wounder why there are insurgents there?

Old Saying: An abusive man was asked, When one declines the offer of a gift, who does the gift belong to? He responds the gift giver. Then no thank you for your abuse, replies Bodhisattwa, you can keep it for yourself.

Edited because I thought of this old saying!

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by PSBeaty on Dec 03, 2004 ---</FONT></center>

The probability that any given wound will be lethal has decreased from 40% in the American Revolution, to 33% during the Civil War, to 25% during the wars of the 20 Century to 10% in Afghanistan and Iraq today. This phenomenal decrease in lethality results from a revolutionary new approach in processing battlefield related trauma. Jet set triage, collecting and preparing the wounded for transport to the proper facility for reconstruction and recuperation within hours of wound acquisition is the key to successful lethality reduction. Speed and turnaround time in field trauma centers while the blood is still freshly spilled optimizes life preservation. The miracles of modern packaging, material sciences and a disposable mentality make this all possible. Pre packed surgical kits in HumVee deployable units that can skirt the line called forward surgical teams (FSH) treat and forward the wounded with a turnaround time of hours (ideally two hours or less per injury) to Combat Support Hospitals (CSH). These sites are not for definitive repair with intended stays of 3 days or less. The wounded are transferred to Germany for wounds expected to heal in 30 days or less or America for more extensive damage.

It seems counter intuitive that this dramatic shift in lethality has occurred in this world of precision built weapons of unimaginable fire-power. The selective pressure of extreme paranoia and fear over centuries of militant nationalism and religious intolerance has resulted in the development, maintenance and distribution of arsenals of insane fire power. There seems no end in the stockpile of these weapons in the remote mountain vista’s or ancient urban centers where US soldiers routinely “walk the beat” of burgeoning democracy.

Wound report from Iraq during the week of Oct. 21: There was one gunshot wound, one antitank-mine injury, one grenade injury, three rocket propelled grenade injuries, four mortar injuries, eight improvised explosive devices (IED) injuries, seven patients no cause of injury stated. The least serious wound was a 19-year old who sustained soft tissue injuries to the face and neck from a mine. Other cases involved a partial hand amputation; a hip disarticulation, through knee amputation, open pelvic debridement (the removal of lacerated unhealthy tissue); a left nephrectomy and colostomy; an axillary artery and vein reconstruction; splenectomy, with repair of a degloving scalp laceration and a through and through tongue laceration. None of the soldiers were more than twenty five years of age.

One Airman with devastating injuries was on an operating table at Walter Reed 36 hours after a mortar attack. . He had bilateral thigh injuries, abdominal wounds, shrapnel in the right hand and fascial injuriesAt a CSH, bleeding was controlled a leg amputated at the thigh and a laparaotomy with a diverting colostomy. His abdomen was left open. He arrived in Germany and they decided to send him on after a “washout”. At Walter Reed he spent weeks in intensive care with multiple operations and survived. Injuries like this would have never been survived in previous wars. The cost, “one leg above the knee, the other in a hip disarticulation, a right hand, and part of a face. How he and others like him will be able to live and function remains an open question.”

Note: this decrease in lethality is only possible if you have a lot of money and control the airspace. I just wonder why GW says that these things and the ultimate sacrifice are more difficult to face this time of year (statement after Mosul bombing). George, what is the best time of year for a soldier or their family to deal with these outcomes?

Data from New England Journal of Medicine

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by PSBeaty on Dec 22, 2004 ---</FONT></center>

I don't know if anyone looked at this reply I made but I read the NEJM as part of my work thing that I do! And, like the Lancet article I previously posted on, I thought it was interesting so I condensed and posted. When I was reading there was one line in particular that bugged me: "How he and others like him will be able to live and function remains an open question." It brings up that whole moral and ethical dilemma of war. These people that would have died in previous wars, is it better to let them go? What is that! Then I saw on the news of a soldier who lost limbs in a previous war and has a ski rehabilitation center in Colorado for soldiers returning with bits missing. Of course he mentioned how nobody cared when he came back (I have already posted previously on my feelings about these comments, it would be more correct to state nobody new how to care when he came back). Anyway these guys seemed to be coping well (thank God!). But then yesterday I heard the story of Ramon del Sampedro wanting to commit suicide after becoming a paraplegic in a diving accident on NPR. It created quite a stir in Spain! Compare that to Christopher Reeve. Then it all just gets back to being so ludicrous that such considerations would ever have to be argued!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PSBeaty:
... Then it all just gets back to being so ludicrous that such considerations would ever have to be argued!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's the crux of the matter... we (as human beings) need to learn that war only creates more death and disharmony... If we were not involved in wars, we would have readily available resources and personnel to aid in true natural disasters as in south asia.

....this seems to me a remarkable story....saw it briefly on the news and couldn't find much on the internet about it....but.... http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/23/1541239

keep the faith
<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>