BALAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. military's main combat hospital in Iraq has increasingly switched to helping Iraqis. As the numbers of wounded American soldiers have fallen, the hospital is now saving the lives of a remarkable 93 percent of Iraqis who come with devastating injuries.It's another sign of the radical improvements in health care made at combat trauma care units in war time - especially because unlike U.S. soldiers, most Iraqi patients at the Air Force Theater Hospital don't wear body armor and helmets or drive in vehicles designed to withstand roadside bombs.
"There are people with injuries that are brought here, and I say this with confidence, if they went anywhere else in the world, they would not survive," said Col. Mark Mavity, the commander of the hospital.
Over the years, the hospital on Balad Air Base has become synonymous with combat trauma care. It is best known for saving countless U.S. soldiers with catastrophic battle injuries - more than 96 percent on average over the six-month period ending in August. But even more astonishing: during that same time, about 93 percent of Iraqis left the hospital alive - up from an average of 89.7 percent during the previous six months.
But even as Iraq gets better at handling its own security, it is miles away from providing the level of medical care and other type of assistance provided now by U.S. military facilities. Any large-scale U.S. military pullout by 2011 will have to be matched by a major boost in Iraq health care and sanitation to fill the gap. For now, many Iraqis must rely on the United States to treat their blast wounds.