After nearly a year I have returned to the infamous Baghdad ER, now the US Army 86th Combat Support Hospital. Still the busiest combat hospital in Iraq, and most likely the world, it is home to some of the militaries best doctors and medics as well as a constant stream of some of the most horrific battle casualties imaginable.
Working in Baghdad ER requires a constant presence by a military public affairs officer and this year my guide is Captain McKinnie. One of those people who you instantly like, McKinnie was kind and humorous, addicted to JellyBelly "butter popcorn" flavored jelly beans. Stopping every couple of minutes to pull a couple out of her pocket, at one point McKinnie picked a dropped jelly bean off of the ER floor, shouting out "THREE SECOND RULE, THREE SECOND RULE!!!!!!" then popped it into her mouth and swallowed. It takes a lot to shock me, so she deserves some sort of medal. Unfortunately, the rest of the day was not so amusing and pleasant.
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A flurry of commotion coming from the trauma ward means that something is going on. We rush in to find a ten-year-old Iraqi boy on a stretcher with his organs hanging out of his stomach, which is severed from his mid chest down to his pelvis. He has no pulse and a doctor is administering frenzied yet deliberate chest compressions while five or more other doctors and medics perform different duties.
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After several minutes they are able to stabilize the boy enough to transfer him upstairs to surgery. We follow along and spend the next hour in the surgery ward as surgeons remove the boy’s organs, setting them aside as they dig large chunks of shrapnel out of the boy’s body. For the time being they must ignore that fact that one of his hands is also missing and focus on the more pressing injuries.
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Finally he is stabilized and shrapnel is, for the most part, removed. We find out from the boys uncle, who is obviously quite close to him and visibly distraught, that he had been out playing on the street when he stumbled on a land mine or improvised explosive device (IED.)
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The doctor’s efforts were noble and both Captain McKinnie and myself were impressed that they were able to save the boy. We take a deep breath and head out to get lunch.
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After lunch we return to the ER to find the young boys uncle hanging out of a window screaming, crying and rocking back and forth. The nurse looks at us and shakes her head…they boy died shortly after the first surgery and they were not able to bring him back. As everyone stood back watching the man sobbing I decided that at the moment it was more important to be human than a photographer and went and held the man as he cried. I sat next to him with my arm around his shoulder as spoke in Arabic, rocked back and forth and hit himself in the face. I could feel the boys dried blood on his shirt…the reality of being back in Iraq sets in quickly.
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Thanks for sharing this story and those images. It must have been hard to be there as a photographer and a human. Best wishes to all civilians, soldiers and doctors/nurses in the warzone.
Posted by: lorraine moore | June 07, 2008 at 10:00
I'm a photojournalism student at the University of Oregon(USA) and I stumbled upon your blog after kicking around the idea of trying to embed once school is over.
Your photo of the surgeon with the green cap on is lovely and it conveys so much information. I'm very impressed with both your technical skill and the decency which you're amazingly still able to communicate both through your words here and your actions with the boy's uncle.
Do you have any advice for me in terms of getting embedded or what to do/not to do once I am embedded?
Please keep at it and continue to do your work. There are precious few places to actually see what is happening over there and without your work it would be difficult to find information that hasn't been soiled by our DoD.
Thank you again,
Mike Perrault
Eugene,Oregon,USA
Posted by: Mike Perrault | July 10, 2008 at 01:32
If the government declares a policy to commit to warfare, for whatever reason, it should not fear photojournalists. While the government is obliged to ensure some measures to protect units and families, it must balance this with the world's right to know what it means to pursue this policy. No war is bloodless. Every such effort causes pain and agony for someone. You record this in a professional manner, and the military should stand out of your way. Who will record what truly transpires on the streets and in the countryside? Why should it be sterile and tidied-up before it's presented?
Posted by: Franklin Orosco | July 28, 2008 at 13:45
One story of too many , Thanks for sitting next to the boy's uncle am sure it helped him, he felt a bit of calmness I hope .. showing others that "we" " human beings" do care as on one level when it comes to watching some one dies or getting hurt always help letting the world know whats it really like to feel such feelings and to get through such pain!
Posted by: Iraqi | March 02, 2009 at 13:53
You have only presented the tip of the iceberg. As an Emergency Physician the horrific injuries that our service man and woman are sustaining defies imagination. The long lasting effects upon our society caused by the reckless actions of idiots, is criminal. Yet we are all criminals for letting them put us in this situation.
The next time anyone yells lets go to war, spend some time at Walter Reed Medical Center or at your local trauma center and imagine your son or daughter coming home, with no arms or legs, blind, deaf, gentitals missing with major head injury. Well its happening every day!
Welcome to the world of Combat Health Care workers trying to bring your love one home in a condition that you will mildly recognize and have to take care of for the rest of your life and theirs.
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Posted by: henrylow | January 26, 2010 at 07:49
I think it is an amazing picture. Unfortunately yes war creates terrible things but the arguement should not be, why are we there the arguement should be why arent people supporting our troops. We follow orders we go to protect our country. Whether you agree or disagree were there.
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