| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Kandahar Kids Continue Recovery at Combat Support Hospital |
| 2004-01-21 |
| On Jan. 6, a series of explosions ripped through the east side of the city of Kandahar, and 11 days later the effects of those explosions were still evident on the children in the 452nd Combat Support Hospital here. As many as 14 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the double bomb blast in the "spiritual home of the Taliban," just one day after Afghanistan adopted a new constitution, according to a statement from the office of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. The victims were mainly children from the nearby Abdul Ahad Karzai primary school, named after the president’s father, who was assassinated by Taliban agents five years ago. Many were transferred to medical facilities at Kandahar Air Field, while others were evacuated to Bagram. "We received 11 victims total – all of them being children," said Capt. Mary Jo Literski, a nurse with the 452nd CSH out of Milwaukee, Wis. "For our facility, that’s a large number of casualties all at once." Literski said most of the injuries were shrapnel wounds from the explosion, many of them requiring surgery. "The shrapnel only makes a small puncture mark when it goes in, but then it does a lot of damage on the inside. So most of them needed abdominal surgery to get the shrapnel out and repair the damage to the internal organs," Literski said. She said that without the medical care provided at the U.S. hospital, many of the children would have died. "(In Afghanistan) there is a medical system, but it’s very limited," Literski said. "Their surgical capabilities are almost not available." Rest of article at link |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |